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Maddie McCann suspect found not guilty in separate trial

October 8, 2024

The man suspected in the Madeleine McCann case has been cleared on five counts of rape and child sex abuse. He will remain behind bars until September 2025 for a separate rape conviction.

https://p.dw.com/p/4lWgp
German court in Braunschweig, Germany
The Braunschweig court acquitted the man, who is also under investigation over the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, in a trial on charges of unrelated sexual offensesImage: Michael Matthey/dpa/picture alliance

A suspect in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann was on Tuesday acquitted of unrelated sexual abuse charges by a court in Germany.

The 47-year-old man could "not be convicted of the acts he is accused of," said Judge Uta Engemann, clearing him of five counts of rape and child sex abuse.

Christian B. has been formally identified as a suspect in the case of "Maddie" McCann, who disappeared in 2007 during a family holiday in Portugal. He denies any involvement in the toddler's disappearance and charges have never been made.

The accused stands in the courtroom
The man will remain in prison another year because he is still serving a seven-year sentence for rape in a different caseImage: Michael Matthey/dpa/picture alliance

Acquitted on five counts

In the trial in the German city of Braunschweig, Lower Saxony, Christian B. faced three charges of aggravated rape and two of sexual abuse of children committed between 2000 and 2017.

He will remain in prison until September 2025 while serving a sentence for a separate rape conviction. 

That conviction is for raping a 72-year-old US tourist in 2005 in Praia da Luz — the same coastal resort in Portugal where Maddie went missing two years later.

Last week Chief Prosecutor Ute Lindemann described Christian B. as a "dangerous psychopathic sadist," and called for a 15-year prison sentence on the five counts.

Maddie McCann's disappearance

In 2020, Christian B. was revealed as a suspect in the case of the missing Madeleine "Maddie" McCann. In July of that year, German police officers searched a garden allotment in Hanover in connection with the disappearance of the British girl. However, authorities provided no details regarding how the search was connected to the case.

German prosecutors say they have "concrete evidence" that Maddie, who was three at the time of her disappearance, is dead.

She went missing in 2007, while her family was on vacation in the Portuguese resort of Praia da Luz. She disappeared from her bed in a holiday apartment.

jsi/ab (AFP, dpa, Reuters, AP)

Editor's note: DW follows the German press code, which stresses the importance of protecting the privacy of suspected criminals or victims and obliges us to refrain from revealing full names in such cases.

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