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EPA
Francois Camille Abello was produced by the police at a press conference this month.
A French man accused of sexually abusing hundreds of children in Indonesia died in an alleged suicide, according to police.
Francois Camille Abello, 65, was found unanswered in his cell at a detention center in the capital Jakarta last Thursday, spokesman Yusri Yunus said.
Abello was pronounced dead on Sunday night after three days of treatment.
The retiree was arrested last month at a Jakarta hotel. Police said he was in a room with two underage girls.
They said videos were found on Abello’s computer showing him engaging in illegal sexual acts with more than 300 children ages 10 to 17.
Umar Shahab, an official at the National Police Hospital in Jakarta, said Monday that Abello had suffered a neck fracture that blocked his oxygen supply.
Mr. Yunus said that the guards at the detention center had been questioned and the cell examined as part of an investigation into the death.
According to police, Abello was believed to have attacked street children, luring them with offers of money to photograph them in their hotel room before making sexual advances. Those who refused were beaten, police said.
He faced life in prison, chemical castration, or possibly the death penalty, if convicted.
