TW: contains mentions of abduction and abuse.
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Madeleine McCann disappeared sixteen years ago, and her tragic disappearance shocked the world. She was on holiday with her family in Praia da Luz, Portugal, in 2007. One evening, her parents, Kate and Gerry, went to eat with friends at a restaurant just a hundred meters away. They left Madeleine and her younger brothers in the apartment, and the adults looked after them on a rotation system. At around 10 p.m., her mother Kate McCann went to visit the children. Madeleine, aged 3, was nowhere to be found.
Christian Bruecker on trial for five cases
On Thursday, January 18, court documents revealed new allegations against Christian Bruecker, who is already serving a seven-year sentence in Germany for sexual abuse and drug trafficking. While he is identified as the main suspect in the Maddie McCann case, he will stand trial for five different cases that took place all over Europe between 2000 and 2017. In the Madeleine McCann case, German authorities have been investigating him for five years, but he has not been charged.
In these recently released documents, the man is accused of another disturbing crime. Prosecutors claim that he 'abducted' another child from the beach a few days before Madeleine McCann's disappearance and forced her to perform sexual acts.
Facts dating from 2000 to 2017
Court documents also detail another atrocity Bruecker is accused of committing: he allegedly attacked a 14-year-old girl less than a kilometer from where the McCanns were staying. According to the prosecution, he reportedly tied her to a post in a rented property in Portugal, beat her with a whip and forced her to perform oral sex. He also allegedly recorded these acts.
This is not the first time that the use of a whip has been mentioned. He has already been convicted of sexually assaulting a 72-year-old woman in the resort where Madeleine disappeared. A court file describes the scene, saying that the man was 'masked' and that after assaulting her, 'he beat her with a whip'. Again, it states that he recorded his actions on camera.
Another woman, Hazel Behan, claimed that the man had broken into her apartment in Portugal in 2004. The Irish woman claimed that he had climbed onto her balcony and threatened her with a knife while assaulting her. Christian Bruecker has always denied the charges against him. His long-awaited trial is due to start on February 16.
This article has been translated from Oh!MyMag FR.
Read more:
⋙ Maddie McCann: 10 key dates to understand one of the most mysterious disappearances of our time
⋙ Madeleine McCann: Crucial witness to testify against prime suspect Christian B
⋙ Madeleine McCann: Rare condition coloboma made her easily recognisable
Sources used:
Express: Madeleine McCann update as court shares new information on German suspect
The Sun: SICK ‘PREDATOR’ Christian B ‘snatched child DAYS before Madeleine McCann vanished & filmed himself raping another girl’ charges reveal
