A Peruvian judge has ordered U.S. citizen Joshua David Brown on Monday be held in jail for heading an international prostitution ring which offered sex with children.

The Associated Press reports Judge Richard Concepcion ordered 64-year-old Brown to serve 18 months of preventative detention while an investigation into a decade of alleged sex trafficking can be conducted.

The accused was arrested on Dec. 5 in the capital city of Lima.

According to authorities Brown was born in New Hampshire.

Gen. Oscar Gonzalez, the head of the human trafficking division of the National Police of Peru, told the media that Brown operated a restricted-access Internet forum called "International Sex Guide." Through this site, Brown offered sex with minors to his clients.

Judge Concepcion ordered preventative detention for three Peruvians who were tied to the case as well. One of the detained allegedly offered two of her underage daughter up for sex .

Peru has come to be known as a place where sex trafficking is common.

The Guardian reports José Iván Dávalos, the head of the International Organization for Migration in Peru, said that curtailing sex trafficking is difficult due to the ignorance that comes with the increased prosperity in the region.

“It’s a bit complicated in Peru because it seems surprising a country that has such high growth levels should still need assistance,” he explained.

Dávalos said Peru has become a victim of its own success. “Here in Lima you can find restaurants to rival Manhattan, but you can also find places that are more like Mogadishu,” he explained.

Dávalos said that sex trafficking in Peru typically involves a large number of indigenous females. “The girls and women who are trafficked are usually indigenous; their ethnicity makes them especially vulnerable,” he said, “If you’re a girl or a woman and you’re poor and indigenous, you’re far more likely to fall victim to trafficking.”

According to CNTV News, Peru’s President Ollanta Humala has pledged to end sex trafficking by the end of his term in 2016.