Madeleine McCann prime suspect charged with sexual offences by German prosecutors

The prime suspect in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann has been charged with several sexual offences allegedly committed in Portugal.

German prosecutors have charged convicted sex offender Christian Brueckner, 45, who was declared a suspect in the case by Portuguese officials in April as a 15-year legal deadline approached, and he has been under investigation by German officials for two years.

The offences took place between December 2000 and June 2017, the prosecutors said.

“The accused is the same person against whom charges were brought in connection with the disappearance of the then 3-year-old British girl Madeleine Beth McCann,” the Braunschweig prosecutor’s office said in a statement.

“Specifically, the accused is charged with three offences of aggravated rape and two offences of sexual abuse of children,” the prosecutor’s office added.

The office did not say the charges related to the McCann case.

In May, German police claim to have found new evidence of missing Madeleine McCann inside a van belonging to Brueckner.

As Madeleine’s parents held a vigil to mark the 15th anniversary of the day she went missing during a family holiday in Portugal, lead investigator Hans-Christian Wolters revealed evidence had been uncovered potentially linking the convicted rapist to the three-year-old’s disappearance.

The parents have said they are still hopeful efforts by police in three countries to solve their daughter’s disappearance will eventually yield some answers. Prosecutor Mr Wolters has previously said he believes Madeleine is dead.

Brueckner is a German citizen and the law of that country states evidence cannot be released until a suspect and his legal team have been given full details.

He had reportedly been using a yellow and white VW T3 Westfalia campervan in and around Praia da Luz – the Algarve resort where the McCanns were holidaying – at the time Madeleine vanished days before her fourth birthday.

Brueckner was revealed as the chief suspect in the German probe into the toddler’s disappearance two years ago in 2020 – and officially named a suspect by Portuguese police last month.

But while German prosecutors say telecomms data shows Brueckner received a phone call on 3 May 2007 near the Praia da Luz holiday apartment from which the three-year-old went missing, he now reportedly claims to have been miles from the scene in the company of a young German woman.

The 45-year-old, who has always denied any involvement in Madeleine’s disappearance, insists he drove the woman – who was on holiday with her parents – to the airport in Faro for her return flight home the following day, and they were stopped and photographed at a police roadblock, according to Sky News.

Portuguese police named Bruckner an arguido – a formal suspect – on 21 April. It is the first time they have identified an official suspect since 2007, when they named Madeleine’s parents, Kate and Gerry McCann as suspects, both of whom were later cleared.

It has been suggested that the move could potentially be “procedural”, in connection with the fact that Portugal’s statute of limitations does not allow certain crimes to be prosecuted more than 15 years after they were committed.

Last month Kate and Gerry McCann lost their legal battle over comments made by a former Portuguese detective. Goncalo Amaral claimed in a book, a documentary and a newspaper interview that Kate and Gerry McCann were involved in their three-year-old daughter’s disappearance.

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) dismissed the couple’s complaint that the Portuguese authorities had failed to respect their right to a private and family life in their libel case against Mr Amaral.

The ECHR ruled that there had already been extensive publicity about the claims against them, prior to the publication of Mr Amaral’s book in July 2008. It also found that their reputation had not been damaged by him, but rather by the fact that they became official suspects for a short time.

Xural.com