Abuse trial

Maddie suspect Christian B. acquitted

The Braunschweig trial was the focus of international media attention because the defendant is suspected of murder in the case of the missing three-year-old Madeleine "Maddie" McCann.

(Bild: AFP/ITALIAN CARABINIERI PRESS OFFICE, AFP, krone.at-Grafik)

Christian B., who is also a suspect in the Maddie case, has been acquitted of several serious sexual offenses by the Braunschweig Regional Court. However, the 47-year-old remains in prison because he is still serving a sentence for rape until September 2025. 

After 38 days of proceedings before the criminal court in Braunschweig, Lower Saxony, the three professional judges and two lay assessors acquitted the accused.

Many trial observers had expected this outcome after the chamber had revoked the arrest warrant against the sex offender, who had several previous convictions, at the request of the defense in July.

Maddie not part of the proceedings

The Braunschweig trial was the focus of international media attention because the defendant in the case of the missing three-year-old Madeleine "Maddie" McCann is suspected of murder. However, the Maddie complex is not officially the subject of the current proceedings. Investigations are continuing, but no charges are foreseeable as yet.

At the start of the trial in February, Christian B. was accused of three rapes and two cases of sexual abuse of children in Portugal.

At the end of the hearing of evidence, the public prosecutor's office essentially stuck to its conviction and demanded a total of 15 years' imprisonment with subsequent preventive detention.

The accused did not comment
In the end, the prosecutors found him guilty of two rapes and two cases of abuse. The accused had the opportunity to make a final statement on the penultimate day of the trial, but did not speak. The verdict is not final, an appeal is possible.