Oranjestad, Aruba ? Aruban police arrested the father of a young Dutch teen already in custody in connection with the disappearance of a young Alabama woman, and said Thursday that he was considered a suspect in the 3-week-old case.

The teen’s mother, meanwhile, told The Associated Press that her son had changed his story, admitting to her that he was alone with 18-year-old Natalee Holloway on a beach the night she vanished – and that he left her there, not at a Holiday Inn as he earlier stated. But Joran van der Sloot, 17, insisted that he did not hurt her, Anita van der Sloot said.

Paul van der Sloot, 52, a justice official on this Dutch Caribbean island, was arrested Thursday shortly after he and his wife left the San Nicolas prison where Joran is being held, Anita van der Sloot told the AP.

Holloway’s mother, Beth Holloway Twitty, said she was pleased with the development.

But Anita van der Sloot insisted her husband had done nothing wrong and said Aruban authorities arrested him because they were under pressure.

“My husband is a man of integrity who has been working in the justice system 15 years and was taken without evidence,” she said, describing him as “the most honest, beautiful man.”

“How can this happen? This is not about Natalee anymore. It’s about enormous pressure from the (United) States and the media,” she said.

Authorities did not immediately respond to van der Sloot’s allegation.

Marcia Twitty talks with reporters about the latest arrest in the case of her missing niece, Natalee Holloway, Thursday in Mountain Brook, Ala. Holloway was last seen during a graduation trip to Aruba on May 30. Twitty is standing in front of a wall

The elder van der Sloot “is a suspect in the disappearance” of Holloway, said Mariaine Croes, spokeswoman for the Aruban Attorney General’s office.

While Anita van der Sloot had been allowed to visit her son occasionally at the San Nicolas prison, authorities denied similar access to Paul van der Sloot, saying they believed contact between the two could damage the investigation.

Joran van der Sloot has been in custody since June 9, along with two Surinamese brothers, Deepak Kalpoe, 21, and Satish Kalpoe, 18, in connection with Holloway’s disappearance. Authorities also have arrested a 26-year-old party boat disc jockey, Steve Gregory Croes.

Police say Joran met Holloway at a casino two days before her disappearance. He and the Kalpoe brothers told authorities they took her from a popular restaurant to a beach, where Joran and Holloway were kissing in the back of the car, then dropped Natalee at the Holiday Inn about 2 a.m.

But Anita van der Sloot said Joran has since changed his story, telling her that he was alone with Natalee on a beach.

“He says, ‘Mom, I dropped the girl at the beach. I walked with her. I left her there because she wanted to stay there. I left and I don’t know what happened. There my statement ends,”‘ Anita van der Sloot said.

Anita van der Sloot didn’t say which beach.

When asked if Joran had changed his initial story, she replied, “Joran changed his story only one time. I think he was scared because he sneaked out of the house that evening. I think he was scared and wanted to cover other people too. He changed his story once and added details.”