A German court in Braunschweig has acquitted a 47-year-old German national, identified as Christian Brueckner by local media, in a trial on charges of unrelated sexual offenses. The court cleared him of two counts of rape and two of sexual abuse due to a lack of evidence and unreliable witnesses.
Brueckner, who remains in prison serving a seven-year sentence for a separate rape case, had been on trial since February for offenses allegedly committed in Portugal between 2000 and 2017. The defense argued that the witnesses were not credible and there was insufficient evidence to convict him.
The presiding judge, Uta Engemann, stated that the court faced challenges with witnesses who had been influenced by media reports portraying Brueckner as a 'sex monster and child murderer.' Prosecutors had sought a 15-year prison sentence and preventive detention for Brueckner, but the court ruled in favor of acquittal.
Prosecutors have announced their intention to appeal the ruling, believing it to be incorrect. Brueckner's lawyer expressed that the outcome of the trial was expected based on the factual and legal circumstances.
Notably, Brueckner is also under investigation in the high-profile case of the 2007 disappearance of British toddler Madeleine McCann. Despite being a suspect in the McCann case, he has not been charged. Brueckner spent time in Portugal, including in Praia da Luz, where Madeleine vanished, but he denies any involvement in her disappearance.
The Braunschweig state court, where Brueckner had his last German residence, has jurisdiction over his cases. While acquitted in the recent trial, Brueckner continues to serve his existing prison sentence for the rape of a 72-year-old American woman in Portugal in 2005.
