- Convicted rapist has almost seen out his current sentence for a separate crime
The man who will make the decision about whether the prime suspect in the Maddie McCann case will be set free or not has delivered a bombshell verdict which could ensure that he stays behind bars.
Convicted pedophile and rapist Christian Brueckner is the man who German investigators believe abducted and killed Madeleine, then aged three, from her parents’ holiday apartment in Portugal in 2007.
He is currently on trial for a range of non-related sex offences committed in Portugal, and there are strong indications that he will be acquitted.
The only way German authorities could then keep him in prison would be if the court psychiatric expert, Dr Christian Riedemann, deems him ‘dangerous’ for society.
Speaking today at Braunschweig Regional Court, forensic psychiatrist Dr Riedemann, 47, head of the correctional facility in Bad Rehburg said: ‘The application of various procedures leads to the conclusion that Christian Brueckner can be categorized in the absolute top league of dangerousness’.
Christian Brueckner (C) is brought to the courtroom for a session of his trial at court in Braunschweig, northern Germany, on September 25, 2024
German investigators sensationally named Brueckner as the key suspect in the abduction of the British three-year-old
‘According to established analysis procedures, almost 100 per cent of comparable sex offenders have more favorable prognoses than the defendant,’ he went on.
‘And the probability that [Brueckner] will be imprisoned in the next two years is 30 to 50 per cent.’
He added that he ‘rejected any attempts at exploration of his personality by experts.
‘I would like to ask him a lot of questions, but I only have to speculate about a lot of things.
‘He belongs in the absolute top league of dangerousness.’
‘The probability that the defendant could commit further offences in freedom within two years is high.’
Brueckner, who is currently serving a sentence for a 2005 rape of an American pensioner in Portugal, is currently accused of other horrific sex offences in the country.
These include three cases of rape, and two cases of exposing him to children while masturbating.
Pictured: The holiday complex where the McCanns were staying in Portugal’s Algarve region in May 2007, when their three-year-old daughter vanished without a trace
If he is acquitted of these crimes, the only way to keep him in prison will be by activating something called ‘preventative detention’, for which he has to say that he deems Brückner as dangerous for society.
Today was the second time that Dr Riedemann gave an assessment of Christian Brueckner’s personality.
On day 33 of the trial, he also did this, first discussing an introduction of scientific research on sadistic offenders, and arguing that their main motivation is not the sex, rather the power.
Here he said that sadists enjoy humiliating their victims, physically hurting them, tying them up and subjugating them.
Brueckner was sensationally named by German police as the prime suspect in the Madeleine’s abduction.
The revelation came in June 2020 – more than a decade after her disappearance.
But he has never been charged in the case, and has long denied any involvement.
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Read more at DailyMail.co.uk