A 49-year-old American man who was found with a missing 12-year-old girl in a Rotterdam hotel has been accused of sexual misconduct, prosecutors have said.

James B. is charged with kidnapping the girl, who went missing on Thursday after telling her school she had an orthodontist appointment.

B. appeared in court on Tuesday morning, where he was charged with removing the girl from parental authority. He made no reply and was detained in custody for a further 14 days while enquiries continue.

Police issued an amber alert on Thursday for Hania after her mother raised the alarm. She had no appointment with an orthodontist and had deleted a series of ‘alarming’ chat messages from her phone.

The Telegraaf reported that B. had been convicted of sexual offences against minors in another country, but this has not been confirmed.