‘HARD TO BELIEVE’ Madeleine McCann suspect
was booted out of Portugal twice for child sex crimes
but never linked to missing 3-y/o
Holly Christodoulou, The Sun
MADELEINE McCann suspect Christian Breuckner was booted out of Portugal twice for child sex offences - but cops never linked him to the missing toddler.
The convicted paedo was sent to Germany for the first time in 1999 after spending four years on the run in the Algarve.
He then served a two-year sentence for sexually abusing a child before returning to the tourist hotspot.
But in 2017, Christian Breuckner was extradited back to his native Germany for a second time to serve a 15-month prison sentence for sexually abusing a child and possession of child pornography.
The 43-year-old had been caught exposing himself at a kid's playground just a 30-minute drive from where Madeleine vanished in Praia da Luz in 2007, the Mail Online reports.
But the serial offender, who lived in Portugal on and off for around 22 years, was never put on the sex offenders register in the country.
This blunder meant cops probing Madeleine's disappearance never considered Christian Breuckner could be linked to the crime, Portuguese broadcaster RTP reports.
Presenter Sandra Felgueiras said: "It may be hard to believe, but it is true.
"The suspect in the murder of Madeleine McCann was twice extradited from Portugal to Germany for sex crimes against children but was never investigated into her disappearance from Praia da Luz."
Parents who raised the alarm after Christian Breuckner exposed himself in the playground in Sao Bartomoleu de Messines have now expressed their horror at the latest claims.
One mum said: "He could have taken my daughter.
"It is so difficult to realise that somebody linked to so many criminal case and so potentially dangerous, was so close to my daughter."
Portuguese police have confirmed the sex offender was dismissed from their inquiries into Madeleine's disappearance because they didn't know about his child sex crimes.
But it emerged last month Christian Breuckner told officers he was a sexual predator a year before she vanished.
Despite that, his confession was not recorded by police and his name was never added to a list of known sex offenders living in the Algarve.
His name should have been added to a list held by Portugal’s investigative Policia Judiciaria [PJ].
After the little girl disappeared, officials were tasked with listing all foreign nationals who had been convicted of sex crimes living in the area around the resort - meaning he should have flagged up if his name was added.
But instead, Christian Breuckner was not considered a suspect until 2017 on the tenth-year anniversary of the toddler's disappearance.
His name was given to police after he allegedly boasted to a friend in a German bar that he knew what had happened to Madeleine.
Officers then discovered he took a 30-minute phone call just before the three-year-old vanished.
The Sun revealed today police are probing a “promising” new lead
following a TV appeal
A viewer of Germany’s Crimewatch called cops to say they recognised a mobile number that suspect Christian Breuckner is said to have phoned on the night Madeleine vanished.
Police now hope to trace the Portuguese number’s owner. They are also checking banks in Portugal to see if it was topped up at an ATM.
Madeleine's disappearance remains a mystery, although German police say they know she is dead.
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