Madeleine McCann suspect charged with sex offences in Portugal including alleged rape of Irish woman

The woman (20) was allegedly raped in the Praia da Rocha area of the Algarve.

German prosecutors said on Tuesday they had charged the 45-year-old German man, who is the chief suspect in the Madeleine McCann case, with several sexual offences he committed in Portugal between December 28, 2000 and June 11, 2017.

"The accused is the same person against whom charges were brought in connection with the disappearance of the then 3-year-old British girl Madeleine Beth McCann," the Braunschweig prosecutor's office said in a statement.

Convicted sex offender Christian Brückner is the chief suspect in the case and is currently in jail in Germany.

Earlier this year it was reported that he was set to be charged in relation to the rape of an Irish woman in Portugal in 2004, near to where Madeleine McCann disappeared three years later in 2007.

More to follow...