The key suspect in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann is set to flee Germany, just weeks after he was released from prison.
German national Christian Brueckner had been serving a seven-year sentence for sexually assaulting a pensioner in Praia da Luz, Portugal – the same area where three-year-old Maddie vanished from in May 2007.
He was released from prison in September under strict conditions that he would need to wear an electronic tag for five years, meet with his parole officer on a monthly basis, and declare to the court any changes of residence.
However, it has now been revealed that Brueckner, 49, will be free to leave Germany and roam around Europe after a shock court order. His ankle monitoring tag will also not work once he leaves the county.
“It’s incredible the lengths Germany is going to, to protect this man,” a source from the group organising opposition to Brueckner said.
“He’s a convicted paedophile and rapist, yet he’s the one being treated like a victim. The amount of money being spent on guarding him is just ridiculous — but to now be forking out for a new identity for him is insulting. It feels like we’re paying to put the public in Germany under threat.”
It was also revealed that the convicted sex offender has been holed up under a makeshift tent in the woodlands of a German city, as he plans his new life.
He has reportedly been refused entry to hotels and hostels and was also removed from a park where he’d pitched a tent close to a kindergarten.
“All the parks and woodland around the city, and tracks alongside the railway, must be perfect for him. It has meant he’s been able to live like a rat, scuttling backwards and forwards along these paths so he can get around the city without being seen,” a local told The Sun.
“Of course, everyone knows he is the Maddie suspect — but we don’t know if he is responsible for that.
“Our concerns are the crimes he is guilty of — a brutal rape and horrific child sex abuse. Who would want a person like this living in their city?”
Locals were also outraged when they learnt Brueckner had set up a GoFundMe page to help him find a new home abroad.
“Finally, a break from the constant wave of suspicion, the pre-judgments, and the gruelling witch hunt, and into sunny nowhere. The only thing missing is money,” he claimed in the post.
The page was taken down after a few hours and received just 100 euros.
Detectives first linked Brueckner to Maddie’s disappearance in 2020 after a witness came forward with key information, including his phone data and links to the area at the same time Maddie vanished.
He has always strongly denied any involvement.
