28 May 2024 , 15:33
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Madeleine McCann suspect Christian Brueckner exposed himself to a schoolgirl on an Algarve beach before sexually assaulting her, a court heard.
The German pervert, 47, allegedly “lay in wait” completely naked behind a rock before grabbing his terrified 10-year-old victim by the wrist. The incident took place in the resort of Salema just weeks before Madeleine vanished from her parents’ holiday apartment in neighbouring Praia da Luz.
The woman, now 27 and alleged to be Brueckner’s first victim, told Braunschweig regional court on Tuesday she had been visiting her family’s holiday flat when the attack happened. Prosecutors claim Brueckner asked the German holidaymaker what her name was before grabbing her by the wrist.
Brueckner is alleged to have then said “look here” and performed a sex act while grinning at the girl. The victim’s parents were yards away from her on the beach but unaware what was happening.
Prosecutors claim Brueckner asked the German holidaymaker what her name was before grabbing her by the wrist (The Daily Mirror)
The woman was left crying and “distressed” (Daily Mirror)The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was left crying and “distressed”, the court heard. She said: “The man came, he climbed down from the rock, and he asked me what I was called. I said my name and then he grabbed my hands.” She said her family contacted police and she helped detectives draw up an E-fit.
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Cops contacted her again in 2019 and said they may have identified a suspect, before she picked Brueckner out of “six or seven” images shown to her. She told the hearing she was initially 50% sure that Brueckner was her attacker.
But after doing her own “research”, she was sure he was the one who had subjected her to the terrifying ordeal nearly 15 years ago. She told the court the “grinning” man had distinctive birthmarks - just like the ones Brueckner had tried to remove from his left thigh after an alleged rape.
Madeleine McCann who disappeared from a holiday flat in Portugal 17 years ago (PA)
Photo of Madeleine taken in Portugal shortly before she went missing (PA)The woman said: “I remember a few large birthmarks distributed over the body, on the back and on the legs. Just spread over, not one place but many across his back . . . it was just the birthmarks which I noticed, and this grinning.”
Brueckner’s legal team criticised the evidence, saying the woman had “coupled together” her research with her memories. They criticised police for showing her pictures of Brueckner and his cars and concluded it rendered her evidence “simply worthless.”
Brueckner is currently serving a seven-year jail term for raping a pensioner in 2005 (The Daily Mirror) Brueckner is accused of a string of rapes and indecent assaults in Portugal between 2000 and 2017. He denies the charges and also having any involvement in Madeleine’s disappearance.
The convicted paedophile is currently serving a seven-year jail term for raping a pensioner in 2005.