The buried bodies of seven women and three children were found on the property of a former police officer in El Salvador.

The attorney general of the Central American country announced on Friday that the man is being investigated on suspicion of sex crimes and a total of 13 murders.

The 51-year-old was therefore initially arrested last Saturday on suspicion of double femicide - that is, murder of women because of their gender.

The man's neighbors in the western city of Chalchuapa had called the police and reported cries for help from a woman. In the suspect's house, the officers found the bodies of a 57-year-old and her 26-year-old daughter in a pool of blood - with signs of sexual abuse. The investigation led to excavations at various points on the property. The other ten bodies were discovered. The dead children were a seven-year-old girl and two boys, ages two and nine. The police did not explain why a total of 13 murders are being investigated.

Some of the people appeared to have been killed about two years ago, the prosecutor reported on Twitter.

Seven other possible graves on the property have yet to be investigated.

At least 25 people are missing in the area.

According to the investigators, the alleged perpetrator was dismissed from his job as a police officer in 2005 for sexually aggressive behavior.

He spent five years in prison.

The man shows psychopathic behavior, said El Salvador's security minister, Gustavo Villatoro.

He also killed on behalf of others.

Ten alleged clients and accomplices were arrested.