The prime suspect in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann has been charged with several sex offences, German prosecutors said.
The Irish Times reports that one of the offences relates to the alleged rape of an Irish woman in Portugal in 2004.
Convicted sex offender Christian Brueckner is accused of committing five offences between 2000 and 2017 in Portugal, the public prosecutor’s office in Braunschweig said, with the charges not related 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 3rd 2007.
Brueckner, who has reportedly denied any involvement in the case, was identified as a suspect in the McCann case by Portuguese officials in June 2020.
If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this article, you can call the national 24-hour Rape Crisis Helpline at 1800 77 8888, access text service and webchat options at drcc.ie/services/helpline/, or visit Rape Crisis Help.
In the case of an emergency, always dial 999/112.
