Braunschweig, Germany — A court in Germany has acquitted a man identified as the only suspect in the nearly two-decade-old unsolved disappearance of British toddler Madeleine McCann on a number of unrelated sexual offense charges, but Christian Brueckner will remain in a German prison for at least another year thanks to a previous conviction in another rape case.

Bruckner, a 47-year-old German national, has been described as a primary suspect in the British girl’s 2007 disappearance from a beach resort in Portugal, and he remains under investigation by police in multiple countries in relation to that case. On Tuesday, however, a district court in Braunschweig acquitted him of sexual offense charges unrelated to McCann’s disappearance – acts allegedly committed in Portugal between 2000 and 2017.

Brueckner had faced three rape charges and two counts of sexual abuse in the case ruled on Tuesday, in which prosecutors had sought a 15-year prison sentence as well as preventive detention after his term. A panel of three judges, led by Uta Engemann, ruled in favor of the defense, which had argued there was insufficient credible evidence to convict him on the charges.
Christian Brueckner, right, a suspect in the disappearance of British toddler Madeleine McCann in Portugal, speaks with his lawyer Friedrich Fuelscher as they wait for the verdict in a trial on unrelated sexual assault charges in Braunschweig, Germany, Oct. 8, 2024.Michael Matthey/Pool/REUTERS
Brueckner is already serving a seven-year prison sentence in Germany for the 2005 rape of a 72-year-old American woman in Portugal, so despite the Tuesday ruling, he will likely remain behind bars, completing that sentence, until September 2025.

The defendant’s lawyer Friedrich Fuelscher said the prosecution’s case at the Braunschweig district court lacked reliable witnesses, and he argued that Brueckner had only been targeted due to his public links to the high-profile McCann case.

“It became clear during the proceedings that prejudgment by the media had played a significant role in shaping public perceptions and influencing witnesses,” Engemann said as she delivered the ruling on Tuesday, emphasizing that the judicial oath she’d taken committed her to ensuring due process of law for all accused parties.

“Even a Christian Brueckner has the right to have a constitutional (fair) trial,” she said, adding: “The court’s ruling might be disappointing for those involved, but that’s how it works in a constitutional system.”

Unlike in the U.S., defendants such as Brueckner are not required to enter a plea to any charge in Germany’s legal system, and there is no compulsion for them to testify or respond to charges. Brueckner chose to remain silent during the trial in Braunschweig.

Investigations into McCann’s abduction continue, and no formal charges have ever been filed against Brueckner in the case. He has consistently denied any involvement in the disappearance of the British toddler from her parents’ vacation rental home in southern Portugal — a mystery that has remained unsolved for more than 17 years.

Police in Germany, Portugal and the U.K. have found little solid evidence after almost two decades investigating McCann’s disappearance. A new search conducted in mid-2023, around a reservoir not far from where she disappeared, appeared to bring no new insights.

Brueckner was identified as a prime suspect in the case in 2022, when German prosecutors said records showed him receiving a phone call on May 3, 2007, near the Praia da Luz apartment from which McCann disappeared. He was already under investigation for various crimes including burglary and child abuse in Portugal.