German suspect in unsolved Maddie McCann disappearance on trial for separate sex offence cases

Christian Brueckner, 47, was seen in public for the first time since he was revealed in June 2020 as the main suspect in the high-profile case dating back to 2007

Brueckner is already behind bars for raping a 72-year-old US tourist in 2005. If found guilty in the new trial, he could face another sentence of 5 to 15 years

2-MIN READ2-MIN

A waiter displays a picture of missing Madeleine McCann on a restaurant’s window in 2007, in Praia da Luz, southern Portugal. Photo: AP

Published: 6:21pm, 16 Feb 2024

The prime suspect in the long-unsolved case of missing British toddler Madeleine McCann went on trial in Germany on Friday on unrelated sex crimes.

Christian Brueckner, 47, was seen in public for the first time since he was revealed in June 2020 as the main suspect in the high-profile case dating back to 2007.

Wearing a purple shirt and a grey jacket, the German suspect looked composed as he entered the courtroom.

German prosecutors have yet to charge Brueckner over Madeleine’s disappearance, but in October 2022 he was charged with five separate counts of rape and child sex abuse allegedly committed in Portugal between 2000 and 2017.

The charges came about as a direct result of investigations into the “Maddie” case, Christian Wolters, a spokesman for the prosecution said.

A judicial vehicle with the accused Christian Brueckner drives into a courtyard of the Braunschweig Regional Court for the start of his trial in Brunswick. Photo: AP

Brueckner is already behind bars in Germany for raping a 72-year-old US tourist in 2005 in Praia da Luz – the same Portuguese seaside resort where Maddie went missing two years later.