Madeleine McCann suspects Christian Brueckner is ‘at the absolute pinnacle of dangerousness’, says expert who will decide whether he stays behind bars if he delivers surprise verdict

The man who will decide whether or not the main suspect in the Maddie McCann case is released has handed down a compelling verdict that could see him remain behind bars.

Convicted pedophile and rapist Christian Brueckner is the man who, according to German investigators, kidnapped and murdered Madeleine, then three years old, from her parents’ holiday apartment in Portugal in 2007.

He is currently on trial for a series of unrelated sexual offenses committed in Portugal, and there are strong indications that he will be acquitted.

The only way the German authorities can then keep him in prison is if the court’s psychiatric expert, Dr. Christian Riedemann, deems him ‘dangerous’ to society.

Forensic psychiatrist Dr. Riedemann, 47 years old, head of the penitentiary in Bad Rehburg, said today at the Braunschweig Regional Court: ‘The application of various procedures leads to the conclusion that Christian Brueckner can be classified in the absolute top class of danger ‘.

Christian Brueckner (C) is brought to the courtroom for a hearing of his trial at the court in Braunschweig, northern Germany on September 25, 2024

German investigators sensationally named Brueckner the main suspect in the kidnapping of the British three-year-old

“According to established analytical procedures, nearly 100 percent of comparable sex offenders have more favorable prognosis than the suspect,” he continued.

‘And the chance of that [Brueckner] who will be in prison for the next two years is 30 to 50 percent.”

He added that he “rejected any attempt at expert examination of his personality.”

‘I’d 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 class of dangerousness.’

‘The chance that the suspect will be able to commit criminal offenses again within two years is high.’

Brueckner, who is currently serving a sentence for the 2005 rape of an American retiree in Portugal, is currently accused of other heinous sex crimes in the country.

These include three counts of rape and two counts of exposure to children while masturbating.

In the photo: the holiday complex where the McCanns stayed in the Portuguese Algarve in May 2007, when their three-year-old daughter disappeared without a trace

If he is acquitted of these crimes, the only way to keep him in prison is to activate something called “preventive detention,” which requires him to say that he considers Brückner dangerous to society.

Today was the second time that Dr. Riedemann gave an assessment of Christian Brueckner’s personality.

On Day 33 of the trial he did this as well, first discussing an introduction to scientific research on sadistic offenders, and arguing that their primary motivation is not gender, but rather power.

Here he said that sadists enjoy humiliating, physically hurting, tying up and subduing their victims.

Brueckner was sensationally named by German police as the main suspect in Madeleine’s kidnapping.

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.