As of: February 14, 2024, 5:25 a.m
By: Christoph Gschoßmann
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Trial begins in Braunschweig: Is Christian B. responsible for the disappearance of Maddie McCann and has he committed other sexual crimes?
Braunschweig – The trial of the suspect in the Maddie case is receiving enormous media attention.
Since July 2020, it has been publicly known that an investigation is also underway into a sex offender with multiple previous convictions.
It could be Christian B.
Since this connection was discussed in the ZDF program “Aktenzeichen XY... unsolved”, the alleged perpetrator has been the focus of interest.
Christian B.'s lawyer hopes for an acquittal for his client
Although no body has been found to date despite numerous searches, investigators announced at the time that they assumed that the girl from Great Britain was probably no longer alive.
The 47-year-old defendant's first trial in 2019 caused little public interest, but that is now different because of Maddie.
But his defense attorney is hoping for an acquittal: “We will also defend the acquittal – namely acquittal with regard to all charges.
That is completely out of the question,” Friedrich Fülscher told broadcaster RTL.
His client will initially remain silent.
Despite massive prior convictions in the public, he hoped for a fair trial for his client, Fülscher said last fall when the trial was announced.
In total, the defendant must answer for five serious sexual offenses before the Braunschweig regional court.
The Würzburg native is accused of three cases of serious rape and two cases of sexual abuse of children.
The suspect is said to have committed the crimes in Portugal between the end of December 2000 and June 2017.
In October 2022, after several years of extensive investigations in several European countries, the Braunschweig public prosecutor's office presented an indictment containing more than 100 pages.
Christian B. is suspected of raping several women and girls
He is said to have tied up and raped a 70 to 80 year old woman in her holiday apartment.
He is also said to have abused a German-speaking girl who was at least 14 years old.
He is also said to have raped a 20-year-old woman from Ireland and exposed himself in front of two girls aged ten and eleven.
Is there a hot lead in the missing Maddie McCann case?
In the meantime, investigators were reportedly looking for pink pajamas, similar to the ones Maddie wore in a mugshot.
© Yui Mok/PA Wire/dpa/Metropolitan Police
And then there's the connection to the Maddie case.
The then three-year-old British girl Madeleine McCann disappeared from a holiday resort in Praia da Luz on the Algarve in May 2007.
Her parents left her in the apartment on the evening of May 3, 2007, while they ate with friends at a nearby restaurant.
Since then the case has remained unsolved.
Despite great media interest, there were few new details for a long time.
Until Christian B. was brought into contact with her.
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Christian B.: The public prosecutor's office assumes a 15-year prison sentence
The aim of the public prosecutor's office is to convict the defendant for all of the offenses charged.
“That’s why charges were brought,” senior public prosecutor Hans Christian Wolters told the German Press Agency in advance.
Depending on how the evidence is taken, it then needs to be clarified which sentence is appropriate.
“According to the files, the defendant must expect a prison sentence of up to 15 years,” said Wolters.
Subsequent preventive detention may also be considered.
The court emphasized that it would only be clarified in the main proceedings whether the allegations were true or not.
Every accused person is considered innocent until proven guilty by law.
Christian B. is currently serving a seven-year prison sentence for raping an American woman in Praia da Luz, Portugal, in 2005.
According to previous information from the public prosecutor's office, this would have been fully served in September 2025. Madeleine McCann's parents initially did not comment on the trial.
The process also receives a lot of attention in Great Britain, but in Portugal it is nothing more than a side note.
(cgsc/dpa)