Heideroosjes ex-bassist Fred Houben arrested on child porn charges

Heideroosjes former bassist Fred Houben has been arrested in connection with a child pornography case, according to Dutch news outlet De Limburger. The 50-year-old musician was taken into custody on February 25th and remains in detention, with his pretrial incarceration extended for another 30 days as of March 13th.

Houben's attorney, Guy Koppen, confirmed that his client is accused of possessing and distributing child pornography. Koppen stated that Houben was under personal and professional stress and sought "extreme tension online" as a coping mechanism, but denied any sexual interest in minors.

Following his arrest, Heideroosjes announced Houben's departure from the band, stating they were "shocked to the core" and that the allegations "clash directly with the values we have always upheld." The band was set to perform several summer festival dates for their 35th anniversary, but their future plans are now uncertain.

The Public Prosecution Service (OM) confirmed the arrest but declined to release further details due to the ongoing investigation.

Heideroosjes were at one time signed to California punk label Epitaph Records from 1998 to 2004, releasing five albums during that time. 

The band shared the following statement today, (translated into English):

We are absolutely shocked by the news about our bassist, Fred Houben.

We never saw this coming.

The facts that Fred is suspected of clash strongly with the values that we, as Heideroosjes, have always upheld.

Fred has indicated that he does not want to burden us with this private matter.

Therefore, he is immediately stepping down as the bassist of our band.

We are deeply saddened by this bitter and tragic end to our collaboration since 1989.

But above all, our hearts go out to everyone involved in this case, and to Fred's family.

We need time to process this event, and we ask everyone to respect that wish.