12 April 2024 , 09:39
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A Portuguese girl today told a court how Maddie McCann suspect Christian Brueckner indecently exposed himself in front of her when she was just 11 years old.
The convicted paedophile is standing trial for a string of vile sex attacks over 17 years from 2000. The girl, now an 18-year-old student, recalled her ordeal in the Algarve town of Sao Bartolomeu de Messines in 2017. Breaking down as she gave evidence via video link from Portugal, she told the court in Germany that Brueckner had exposed himself with children playing nearby.
"I did not understand then but now I know that he was holding his intimate parts," she said. "He held his penis. He was moving his hand left and right, turning his hand. I did not know what he was doing, I ran straight to my father. I told him what had happened. My father spoke with another man and they rang the police."
The court heard Brueckner had exposed himself with children playing nearby (Dan Charity / Newsgroup Newspapers Ltd)
The court heard Brueckner had exposed himself with children playing nearby (Daily Mirror)Dressed in a striped jumper, and with tears rolling down her cheeks, she became upset as she recalled details of the incident. She told the judge that she did not think the man was aroused at the time, but she fled in panic when she saw him. Brueckner was allegedly seen with his trousers down by the playground, around five metres from where she had been playing.
The girl wept as she gave his evidence via a translator to the court in Braunschweig, Lower Saxony, where Brueckner had been living prior to his arrest. He is alleged to have carried out five offences in the Algarve, including the alleged rape of an Irish tour rep, attacked in her apartment Praia da Rocha in 2004.
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The girl's father said at the time of the incident: "It was hard to think that someone so dangerous was close to my daughter. I went to confront him and he had a pack of cigarettes in his hand and he said he was on the phone. With a pack of cigarettes. He tried to escape but we didn't give him the chance."
He said his daughter had been left traumatised by the incident, which was alleged to have taken place in front of four children aged between nine and 12 years old. The report was made at the municipal playground in the town centre, close to a spot where parents were sitting nearby, keeping an eye on their children.
The German is charged with raping a teenage girl in his Praia da Luz home and raping an elderly woman in her holiday apartment. He is also accused of exposing himself to a German girl on a beach in Salema in April 2007.
Madeleine was on a family holiday in Praia da Luz, in Portugal when she vanished on May 3, 2007. Brueckner is serving a sentence of seven years for a rape that took place in Portugal in 2005.