Madeleine McCann suspect charged with sexual offences including rape of Irish woman

The offences were allegedly committed between 2000 and 2017

Madeleine McCann.

The prime suspect in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann has been charged with rape and child sexual abuse.

Convicted sex offender Christian Brueckner is accused of five offences, including the rape of an Irish woman, between 2000 and 2017 in Portugal, the public prosecutor’s office in Braunschweig said.

The charges are unrelated to the McCann case.

Investigators believe the 45-year-old killed Madeleine, then three, after abducting her from a holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal, on May 3 2007.

Brueckner, who has reportedly denied any involvement in her disappearance, was identified as a murder suspect in the McCann case by Portuguese officials in June 2020.

On Tuesday, prosecutors said they have charged him with three counts of rape and two counts of child sexual abuse.

He is accused of filming himself raping a woman in her 70s in a holiday apartment in Portugal on an unknown date between 2000 and 2006.

Prosecutors also say Brueckner raped 20-year-old Irish woman, Hazel Behan, twice in Praia da Rocha in 2004.

He is accused of waking her at knife-point before tying her to a table.

Brueckner is alleged to have filmed much of the incident on a camera he had brought with him, before escaping via a balcony.

Prosecutors said the alleged victim managed to free herself and call for help.

He is also accused of orally raping a teenage girl in her home in Praia da Luz after tying her to a wooden pole and whipping her on an unknown date between 2000 and 2006.

Brueckner is again claimed to have filmed the incident.

The suspect also allegedly exposed himself and grabbed the wrist of a 10-year-old German girl on Salema beach in Faro in 2007.

The charges allege Bruckener also exposed himself to an 11-year old Portuguese girl during the so-called Snail Festival in Sao Bartolomeu de Messines in 2017 while she was sitting on a swing in a playground.

Prosecutors say the girl ran to her father for help and the suspect was arrested by Portuguese police at the scene.

Brueckner is serving a seven-year sentence for rape in Portugal in 2005.

The investigation into Madeleine’s disappearance is continuing irrespective of the charges brought, prosecutors said.

Earlier this year, on the 15th anniversary of Madeleine’s disappearance, her parents said it is “essential” to learn the truth of what happened to their daughter.

On the same day, the Metropolitan Police, which continues to treat the case as a missing persons inquiry, said it is “committed” to finding the truth.

In July 2013, Scotland Yard launched its own investigation, Operation Grange, into Madeleine’s disappearance.