Christian Brückner Faces 15-Year Sentence in Unrelated Sexual Assault Trial

German prosecutors are pushing for a 15-year prison sentence for Christian Brückner, the prime suspect in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, in connection with separate sexual crimes. Brückner, 47, has been on trial since February, facing charges that include three counts of rape and two counts of sexual abuse.

The allegations against Brückner stem from incidents that occurred between 2000 and 2017 and are not connected to the McCann case. He has consistently denied any involvement in Madeleine’s disappearance and has never been formally charged in that case.

During a recent court hearing, chief prosecutor Ute Lindemann characterized Brückner as a “dangerous, psychopathic sadist” and advocated for his preventive detention after he serves his sentence. Notably, the statute of limitations had expired on one of the rape allegations, which was not included in the prosecution’s demands.

Lindemann recommended a total of 13 years for the two counts of rape and an additional two years for the two counts of sexual abuse. She expressed a “high degree of certainty” that Brückner poses a risk of reoffending. In contrast, Brückner’s legal team has described the case against him as being built on “very shaky foundations.” They have also raised concerns about whether he can receive a fair trial due to his public association with the high-profile McCann investigation, in which he was named the primary suspect in June 2020.

The disappearance of three-year-old Madeleine McCann occurred during a family holiday in Praia da Luz, Algarve, Portugal, in 2007, and has since become one of the most publicized missing person cases in history. Despite extensive investigations, her whereabouts remain unknown.

Brückner’s trial is being conducted by judges, rather than a jury, in Braunschweig, located in Lower Saxony, as this is where he was last officially registered. He is facing charges related to five distinct offenses:

1. Rape of a 70- to 80-year-old woman in her holiday apartment in Portugal between 2000 and 2006.
2. Rape of a girl aged at least 14 at a residence in Praia da Luz between 2000 and 2006.
3. Rape of an Irish woman, allegedly committed after he broke into her holiday flat from her balcony in Praia da Rocha in 2004. In these three rape cases, Brückner is accused of whipping the victims and filming the assaults.
4. Sexual abuse of a 10-year-old German girl on a beach in Salema in 2007.
5. Forcing an 11-year-old girl to watch a sexual act at a playground in Bartolomeu de Messines during a festival in 2017.

A key witness has testified that he saw videos of Brückner committing acts of rape against an elderly woman and a young girl. In a recent development, Brückner’s defense team successfully petitioned to cancel an arrest warrant against him, but this decision was more of a technicality, as he is already serving a seven-year sentence for raping a 72-year-old American tourist in Praia da Luz in 2005.

The prosecution criticized the cancellation of the warrant, while Brückner’s lawyer, Friedrich Fülscher, suggested that it indicated a potential acquittal for his client. This trial is crucial as it may determine whether Brückner remains incarcerated once his current sentence concludes.

Christian Brückner was born in Bavaria, Germany, in December 1976, and reports indicate that he spent part of his childhood in care. He has a criminal history that includes convictions for drug offenses, theft, and child sexual offenses. Prosecutors allege that he lived “more or less permanently” in the Algarve region between 1995 and 2007.

Despite being a suspect in the McCann case, he was not closely investigated in the immediate aftermath of her disappearance. In June 2020, German authorities named him as a suspect in a murder inquiry, and Portuguese authorities subsequently designated him as a formal suspect, or “arguido,” in 2022. However, no charges related to the McCann case have ever been filed against him, and details of the German investigation remain largely undisclosed.