By Deutsche Welle (Europe) | Created at 2024-10-08 08:42:08 | Updated at 2024-10-08 12:32:29
4 hours ago
A suspect in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann was on Tuesday acquitted of unrelated sexual abuse charges by a court in Germany.
The 47-year-old man could "not be convicted of the acts he is accused of," said Judge Uta Engemann, clearing him of five counts of rape and child sex abuse.
Christian B. has been formally identified as a suspect in the case of "Maddie" McCann, who disappeared in 2007 during a family holiday in Portugal. He denies any involvement in the toddler's disappearance and charges have never been made.
In the trial in the German city of Braunschweig, Lower Saxony, Christian B. faced three charges of aggravated rape and two of sexual abuse of children committed between 2000 and 2017.
He will remain in prison until September 2025 while serving a sentence for a separate rape conviction.
jsi/ab (AFP, dpa, Reuters)
Editor's note: DW follows the German press code, which stresses the importance of protecting the privacy of suspected criminals or victims and obliges us to refrain from revealing full names in such cases.
