Madeleine McCann kidnapping suspect acquitted of separate sexual offence charges

Defence lawyers claimed their client would not have been charged but for the McCann investigation.

Transcript

00:00The main suspect in the case investigating the disappearance of Madeleine McCann was

00:04cleared on Tuesday of several sexual offense charges in a separate unrelated case.

00:09The state court of Braunschweig in Germany acquitted the 47-year-old Christian Bruckner

00:14of two counts of rape and two of sexual abuse.

00:17Defense lawyers suggested he might not have been charged if he hadn't also been a suspect

00:21in the McCann case, pointing to a lack of evidence and unreliable sources.

00:26Bruckner will remain in prison for another year because he is still serving a seven-year

00:30sentence for rape in a different case.