October 8th 2024.
Christian Brueckner, a 47-year-old convicted paedophile, had been facing trial in Germany on three counts of rape and sexually abusing two children. However, in a shocking turn of events, he was cleared of all charges by Judge Ute Engemann after just 31 days of hearing testimony. This trial, which had been spread out over eight months, had finally come to a rapid conclusion with a full acquittal for Brueckner.
The alleged victims had claimed that the attacks took place near Praia da Luz, Portugal, where three-year-old Madeleine McCann had disappeared in 2007. Madeleine had vanished from her family's holiday apartment while her parents were dining at a nearby tapas bar, leaving her sleeping with her younger twin siblings. Despite being suspected of kidnapping Madeleine, Brueckner had never been charged and has consistently denied any involvement in her disappearance.
It wasn't until April 2022 that Brueckner was officially identified as a suspect in the McCann case, after being investigated by German and Portuguese police for three years. However, the German police had already assumed that Madeleine was dead in June 2020. Currently, Brueckner is serving a seven-year prison sentence in Germany for a rape he committed in Portugal in 2005. His sentence is set to run until September 2025, but his legal team is hoping for an early release in the spring.
During the trial, prosecutors struggled to set up video-lines for witnesses to testify remotely, leaving much of the prosecution case reliant on the word of Brueckner's ex-cellmates. These witnesses were known for previously lying in court, which raised doubts about the credibility of their testimonies. Forensic psychiatrist Dr. Christian Riedemann also testified, describing Brueckner as "extremely dangerous" with a sexual preference disorder that included "sadistic and paedophilic elements." Brueckner had spent many years in Portugal, including at the resort of Praia da Luz around the time of Madeleine's disappearance.
Recently, on Madeleine's 21st birthday, her parents, Gerry and Kate McCann, shared a heartwarming message to their daughter. Despite 17 years passing since her disappearance, they have not given up hope and still miss her dearly. In a statement posted to their official campaign to find her, they wrote, "Happy 21st birthday Madeleine. Still missing. Still missed. Still looking." They also expressed how difficult it is to continue living in limbo, with Madeleine's absence still causing them great pain.
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