Drenthe police have arrested a second person in their investigation into the mysterious family found on a remote farmhouse in Ruinerwold – the 67-year-old man described as the father of the group.

He was picked up on Thursday night and is suspected of depriving others of their liberty, possibly endangering their health and money laundering. The money laundering charge stems from the large quantity of cash found on the farm, even though he had no job and no social security benefits, police said.

The man is currently being suspected of being a co-perpetrator of unlawful deprivation of liberty and of abuse, in the sense of prejudicing the health of others and money laundering.

— Politie Drenthe (@poldrenthe) October 17, 2019

On Thursday it emerged that the family had ties to the Unification Church cult, also known as the Moonies.

A spokesman for the sect told television chat show Pauw on Thursday night that the father had split off from the sect in the 1980s. His brother is still active in the movement.

Local police chief Janny Knol told Pauw the arrest of the father had ‘an enormous impact’ on the group of five young adults found at the farm on Monday.

Psychologists are involved in interviewing the children, who do speak Dutch even though they have never been to school, she said.

The oldest son, who went to the local bar for help, is being looked after at a different location. There are also thought to be three older children who left the cult years ago.