The main suspect in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann in 2007 has been charged in Germany with several sex crimes allegedly committed in Portugal.
Christian B allegedly committed the crimes between 2000 and 2017, German prosecutors said.
The DA’s office said the charges are unrelated to the McCann case.
Madeleine was on holiday with her family in Praia da Luz in Portugal’s Algarve region in 2007 when she disappeared from her holiday apartment.
Investigators believe the 45-year-old convicted sex offender killed Madeleine after abducting her. He has denied any involvement in the case and was identified as a suspect by Portuguese officials in June 2020.
He is behind bars in Germany for raping a woman in the same area of the Algarve in Portugal where Madeleine disappeared in 2007.
Prosecutors say the sexual assault charges include three counts of aggravated rape and two counts of child sexual abuse. They say he filmed the rapes.
Image: Madeleine McCann
Charges include:
- Raping and beating a woman in her 70s and 80s at his holiday flat in Portugal at an unspecified time between December 2000 and April 2006
- Beating and forcing a girl over the age of 14 to perform a sexual act between December 2000 and April 2006 at his home in Praia da Luz
- Raping and sexually assaulting a 20-year-old Irish woman in a flat in Praia da Rocha, Portugal on 16 June 2004.
- A 10-year-old German girl posing on a beach in Salema in the Faro district of Portugal on April 7, 2007
- An 11-year-old Portuguese girl posing at a playground in Bartolomeu de Messines, Portugal on June 11, 2017
The investigation into Madeleine’s disappearance continues regardless of charges being filed, prosecutors said.
The Federal Criminal Police Office and the Braunschweig prosecutor’s office issued a new request for public assistance with the McCann case.
Earlier this year, on the 15th anniversary of Madeleine’s disappearance, her parents said it was “vital” to know the truth about what happened to their daughter.
On the same day, the Metropolitan Police, which continues to treat the case as a missing persons investigation, said it was “committed” to finding the truth.
In July 2013, Scotland Yard launched its own investigation, Operation Grange, into Madeleine’s disappearance.