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The German sex offender formally identified as the main suspect in the unsolved disappearance of Madeleine McCann was acquitted on Tuesday of several unrelated child sex offenses.
Christian Brueckner, 47, was cleared of three rapes and two counts of sexual abuse of children related to incidents that allegedly took place in Portugal between 2000 and 2017.
But Brueckner, a convicted child abuser and drug trader, will remain in prison in Germany for at least another year due to his previous conviction for the 2005 rape of an elderly American woman in the Algarve — the same region of Portugal where Madeline vanished.
The British girl was just 3 when she disappeared from her parents’ holiday apartment at the Ocean Club in Praia da Luz on May 3, 2007.
Brueckner has been formally identified as a suspect in Madeline’s case, but not charged. He has denied any involvement.
On Tuesday, a panel of three judges ruled there was insufficient evidence to link him to the other sex charges — agreeing with Brueckner’s defense that he was eyed because of his high-profile connection to the McCann case.
The lead judge, Uta Engemann, argued that witnesses had been influenced in their statements by the media’s reporting on Brueckner, who she said had been “stylized as a sex monster and child murderer.”
“Even a Christian Brueckner has the right to have a constitutional (fair) trial,” she said.
“The court’s ruling might be disappointing for those involved, but that’s how it works in a constitutional system.”
Tuesday’s verdict has no legal bearing on the McCann case but is a setback for prosecutors seeking to charge Brueckner.
Prosecutor Christian Wolters said he would appeal to Germany’s top court.
“We believe that the decision is wrong, so we will appeal to the German supreme court so that the supreme court can check the verdict for mistakes,” he said.
Wolters said that “the ruling has no direct impact on the Maddie (McCann) case.”
However, he stressed: “I can’t say if the evidence in the Maddie case will be enough for an arrest warrant.”
With Post wires
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