The public prosecution department said on Wednesday it plans to press charges against at least 29 men for having sex with an under-age girl in what has become known as the Valkenburg sex case.

In January, the department said up to 80 men could face charges in connection with the case. They have so far questioned 61 and still have to decide if a further 10 should be prosecuted, the department said.

The girl, who was 16 at the time, disappeared from her home in October last year and was found by police having sex with a man in a Valkenburg motel in December. The men face jail terms of up to 12 years, even if they believed the girl was at least 18 – the minimum age to work as a prostitute in the Netherlands.

Two of the men have since committed suicide.