TW: Contains mentions of abduction and abuse
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Madeleine McCann went missing sixteen years ago, and her tragic disappearance shook the whole world. She was on holiday with her family in Praia da Luz in 2007. One night, her parents Kate and Gerry went out to eat with friends at a restaurant a mere 100 yards away. They left Madeleine and her younger twin siblings in the apartment, and the adults checked in on them using a rota system. But when it was Kate’s turn to check, 3-year-old Madeleine was gone.
Kate and Gerry were made suspects in the Portuguese investigation, and Kate has said she was even offered a deal to admit that she was guilty in exchange for a shorter sentence. However, the police have since apologised for the way they treated the case, and told the McCanns they were 'right all along' - at the time, they had suggested someone had been ‘watching’ the family, waiting for a chance to take Madeleine. Now, the police’s prime suspect Christian Brueckner is being accused of yet another disturbing crime.
Christian Bruecker accused of ‘snatching’ another child
Yesterday, on Thursday 18 January, court documents revealed further allegations made against Bruecker, who is already serving a seven-year sentence in Germany for sexual abuse and drug trafficking. He is set to be tried for five different attacks that took place across Europe between 2000 and 2017. When it comes to Madeleine’s case, the German authorities have been investigating him for 5 years but he has not been charged.
Bruecker is accused in these recently released documents of yet another disturbing crime. Prosecutors allege that he ‘snatched’ another child from the beach just days before Madeleine’s disappearance. He reportedly took the child at around 3:30pm and forced her to perform sexual acts on him.
Repeated details in Bruecker’s cases
The court documents also detail another atrocity Bruecker is accused of having committed: he allegedly attacked a 14-year-old girl less than a mile from where the McCanns were staying. According to the accusation, he tied her to a post in a rented property in Portugal, beat her with a whip and abused her. Horrifically, he is said to have recorded these actions.
This is not the first time that the use of a whip has come up. He has previously been found guilty of sexually assaulting a 72-year-old grandmother in the same resort where Madeleine went missing. A court file described the event, saying he was ‘masked’ and after he assaulted her, ‘he beat her with a whip’. Again, it was stated that he recorded his actions on camera.
Another woman, Hazel Behan, claimed Bruecker broke into her apartment in Portugal in 2004. The Irish woman said that he got access via the balcony and threatened her with a knife while he assaulted her. The court documents detail her accusations:
He also whipped the injured party before he fled over the balcony. The defendant also videotaped parts of this act.
Bruecker has always denied the accusations made against him. His highly anticipated trial is expected to begin on February 16.
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Sources used:
The 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
