A convicted rapist who is the prime suspect in Madeleine McCann’s 2007 disappearance in Portugal was acquitted on Monday in an unrelated rape and child sexual abuse trial in Germany.
Christian Brückner, 47, is currently serving a seven-year sentence in Germany for raping an elderly American woman in Praia da Luz, Portugal, in 2005. The Guardian reported that the acquittal means his release, at the latest, is slated for September 2025.
Presiding Judge Uta Engemann concluded there was insufficient evidence to convict Brückner and some of the witnesses were not credible, according to the BBC.
READ: Madeleine McCann’s Suspected Killer Admits to ‘Taking Child in Portugal’
Over the years, Brückner moved to and from his native Germany and Portugal — where McCann vanished in 2007. In 2020, German officials said Brückner was a suspect in the toddler girl’s unsolved disappearance.
In June, detective Titus Stampa said police located Christian Brückner’s Hotmail account and a hard drive related to the McCann case. McCann was three when she vanished from her bedroom while vacationing at a Portuguese resort with her parents and family friends.
Stampa testified that he was “not allowed” to talk about how Brückner’s external hard drive was related to the toddler’s disappearance. However, he did reveal that Brückner used another email account to share child abuse content.
While handing down the acquittal, Judge Engemann stressed that the child sex trial in Germany is unrelated to the McCann case. However, the BBC reported that some of the witnesses who were deemed unreliable are possible witnesses in McCann’s disappearance.
Prosecutors in Braunschweig said they plan to appeal Monday’s acquittal.
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[Feature Photo: Handout]
