Protests erupted in northern Germany as crowds gathered to demand the key suspect in Madeleine McCann’s disappearance be removed from their community following his release from prison, Sky News reported.
Over 150 people assembled to protest the release of 48-year-old convicted pedophile and rapist Christian Brueckner.
While not charged for the disappearance of three-year-old British toddler McCann in 2007, and having denied his involvement publicly, authorities have named him as a key suspect.
Alex Ehmke, a 49-year-old father of two, told Sky News: "I'm a father and have two daughters, and so I take this seriously.
"I do accept the idea that a released prisoner needs to be able to be given the space to reintegrate into society - but there's a difference between that and letting a person so boldly strut around the place."
Fellow protester Denise P, 38, added: "I'm not against reintegration, but a person like this needs locking up in preventive detention or at least put in a facility where he is monitored properly by professionals.
"The ankle [tag] is also not sufficient as a form of protection. We need more protection for victims - protection for victims placed before protection for perpetrators."
Released from prison last month after serving out a seven-year sentence for the rape of a woman in Praia da Luz in 2005, concerns have mounted that he may seek to evade authorities and create a new identity for himself. His former lawyer warned Brueckner wanted to travel to a country without an extradition treaty with the EU or UK, The Mirror previously reported.
Since September, Brueckner has been known to change locations frequently after being evicted from both hotels and homeless shelters once his identity is realized.
After posters appeared around neighborhoods he was spotted in, calling for violence against him, police relocated Brueckner for his own safety.
Why is Christian Brueckner a suspect?
Cleared of charges last October, Bruekner had been accused of a series of sex offences in Portugal. While he denies involvement, police suspect he may have been responsible for the disappearance of the British toddler in the country in 2007.
A hard drive was discovered in a former factory belonging to Brueckner, buried under a deceased dog.
German police also found two memory cards and six USB sticks in a wallet.
The documents found the suspect reportedly admitting to drugging a mother and daughter outside the child’s nursery and speaking of abusing a 4-year-old girl.
Masks, chemicals, firearms, children’s clothing, including over 75 bathing suits, and toys were also reportedly discovered at the factory.
An insurance document discovered by investigators also allegedly saw Brueckner admit to her killing at a music festival, The Standard reported.
A witness, referenced in media reports as Helge B, claimed that Brueckner told him that McCann “didn’t scream” - but that he doubted the suspect’s credibility.
In Skype calls with pedophiles, Brueckner reportedly expressed that he wanted to “capture something small and use it for days.”
Laurentiu Codin, a Romanian national who shared a cell with Brueckner in 2020, told authorities that he had boasted about a crime with similar circumstances to McCann’s case.
Codin told the Braunschweig regional court: “There was somewhere an open window. He told me this, and this was the reason why he asked me whether fingerprints could be left when he went out of the window.
“He said he went into the flat because of money and said that he didn’t find any money, but found a kid and took the child, and that two hours, the place he was, it was then surrounded by police and dogs,” he continued.
“And then he went away, out of the area. I am just saying what he told me ... and he took the child in Portugal in his car, and at the time when the police and dogs were there at the house, he drove away, and he was gone. He asked me if the DNA from a child can be found as evidence, and I answered yes.”