A man accused of killing his five children was an ex-convict whose homes were visited by social workers a dozen times in the past three years.

The decomposed bodies of five children aged between two and eight were found stuffed into rubbish bags near a logging road in Alabama after their father confessed to killing them and led police to the scene, authorities said.

A US man is suspected of killing his five children and then driving for hours before dumping their bodies on a rural dirt road, authorities said.