Germany/Portugal - Christian Brueckner, 27 @ time of 1st crime (2004), charged with sexual assault crimes, Praia de Rocha, Portugal. #4

[RichardKimble]

Thanks for that. It explains the defence position and why the one charge that seemed cut and dried is now one that is riddled with exactly the same ambiguity as all the others are.

But it doesn't negate my earlier point that CB in a children's playground with his pants down and his <modsnip> in his hand remains all shades of wrong. And I know you'll agree with me on that, regardless of anything else.

I agree, it's exposure ,which is the charge.

 

[C.greek]

To be honest, I am terrified by the thought that such a vile individual might be walking free in the near future. Jmo

 

[mrjitty]

To be honest, I am terrified by the thought that such a vile individual might be walking free in the near future. Jmo

I suspect he will go down at least for the historical video rapes and the child offences - but not a sure thing on the videos

 

[Mex]

I suspect he will go down at least for the historical video rapes and the child offences - but not a sure thing on the videos

I am not following that about the videos which portray the historical rapes. Surely both stand together with one being accepted as evidence proving the other?

 

[Mex]

To be honest, I am terrified by the thought that such a vile individual might be walking free in the near future. Jmo

Unfortunately there are more sexual predators out there than one could imagine as is proven by the cases already proven against CB.
The difficulty is for law enforcement to find the evidence to allow charges and to get them to stand scrutiny in a trial. Had CB's mates not given him up the chances are that he would have been free to walk the streets from 2017 until the present day.

 

[Davieson]

I suspect he will go down at least for the historical video rapes and the child offences - but not a sure thing on the videos

With no identifiable victims, no physical evidence, and only the testimony of two known criminal associates, neither am I.

 

[Denis R Tandib]

No Brunt ?

No. I wondered if he was still at Sky when I saw him on the webcast with the ex-Met detective.

 

[Denis R Tandib]

I suspect he will go down at least for the historical video rapes and the child offences - but not a sure thing on the videos

The Salems beach offence is unlikely IMO. He was pulled out of a line-up with 50% confidence which improved to 100% after his face had been splashed across the front page of every newspaper in the western world.

I can’t see how the rape against the young German woman will stand. I’m not sure that this one matches any of the others or even if it can be confirmed as non-consenting. Chances are higher IMO with the older British lady.

The playground is the best chance but I am not sure how long the jail term would be for it.

All told, I have no confidence that MM is going to trial and little confidence that CB had anything to do with it.

 

[Denis R Tandib]

To be honest, I am terrified by the thought that such a vile individual might be walking free in the near future. Jmo

That’s the system. In the unlikely event the judge agrees to cancel the warrant, CB will have served the time for the crimes he has been convicted. I hope he has learned his lesson and does not reoffend but I am more concerned about the justice for MM. If he isn’t charged, I hope new information comes forward.

 

[Mex]

The Salems beach offence is unlikely IMO. He was pulled out of a line-up with 50% confidence which improved to 100% after his face had been splashed across the front page of every newspaper in the western world.

I can’t see how the rape against the young German woman will stand. I’m not sure that this one matches any of the others or even if it can be confirmed as non-consenting. Chances are higher IMO with the older British lady.

The playground is the best chance but I am not sure how long the jail term would be for it.

All told, I have no confidence that MM is going to trial and little confidence that CH had anything to do with it.

Fortunately any decision regarding CB will not rest with any of us but with the people whose job it is to scrutinise all the evidence to hand. And that certainly is not applicable to those of us vainly attempting to make sense of snippets from paywalled newspapers.

The German system of justice includes "Preventive Detention" the use of which, in CB's case has the potential if implemented, to see him held in custody until he is too old to care anymore.
He was disallowed parole from his present sentence because of the considered danger he represented to society of offending again.
Snip
The convicted sex offender was declared an official suspect by Portuguese authorities last month.
According to the Daily Mirror, CB – who was sentenced to a seven-year term for rape in a separate case in 2019 – was denied parole in April due to his “social prognosis”.
A spokesperson for the Oldenburg District Court told the paper: “The court ruled there were no grounds for suspending the remainder of the sentence.”

Madeleine McCann suspect Christian Brueckner denied parole in Germany – report

The convicted sex offender was declared an official suspect by Portuguese authorities last month.

www.standard.co.uk

 

[Mex]

That’s the system. In the unlikely event the judge agrees to cancel the warrant, CB will have served the time for the crimes he has been convicted. I hope he has learned his lesson and does not reoffend but I am more concerned about the justice for MM. If he isn’t charged, I hope new information comes forward.

The German system includes preventative detention of dangerous criminals likely to repeat offences.

Snip
A manhunt ensued. Three days later he was caught 15 kilometers (9 miles) away after he tried to buy a bicycle with a debit card. There are questions of how such a blunder could happen and police have promised a full investigation.

A key detail is that B was not an ordinary prisoner - he'd already served a nine-year sentence for rape in 1999. But shortly before his release a court deemed him dangerous and ordered his confinement to continue under a measure called 'preventive detention' - and he's been held in custody ever since.

"Detainees are not prisoners - they are privileged in a way," explained Torsten Verrel, a professor of criminology at the University of Bonn.

There are about 500 such detainees - a relatively small number within Germany's 50,000 prisoners population. But their existence has caused years of wrangling within German courts and the European Court of Human Rights on the principle of indefinite detention for potentially violent people.

For such cases, Verrel explains, "The end of their sentence is not fixed - it depends on the prognosis. That could mean a person spends the rest of their life in detention."

'Preventive Detention' under scrutiny – DW – 01/27/2016

Excursions for convicts have come under scrutiny after a rapist escaped in Cologne. The man was held in 'preventive detention' - a controversial scheme that can deny release after the completion of a prison sentence.

www.dw.com

It is highly probable that CB falls into that category.
My opinion

 

[RichardKimble]

I suspect he will go down at least for the historical video rapes and the child offences - but not a sure thing on the videos

If the DM case is a benchmark then the others will fail because they don't have DNA evidence,imo.

 

[misty48]

If the DM case is a benchmark then the others will fail because they don't have DNA evidence,imo.

All the crimes currently being tried have more than one witness to them.

 

[RichardKimble]

All the crimes currently being tried have more than one witness to them.

HaB couldn't positively id CB, she thought it was him because of piercing blue eyes, this seems to be called into question, no scar, possibly a run in tights, the rapes in the house didn't have witnesses, the witnesses that testified said they saw the attack on tape which no longer exists, is that a positive they existed? The playground crime will stick imo, but will it be exposure or will the court decide on a sexual element? the testimony reported by the German press doesn't seem certain.

 

[misty48]

HaB couldn't positively id CB, she thought it was him because of piercing blue eyes, this seems to be called into question, no scar, possibly a run in tights, the rapes in the house didn't have witnesses, the witnesses that testified said they saw the attack on tape which no longer exists, is that a positive they existed? The playground crime will stick imo, but will it be exposure or will the court decide on a sexual element? the testimony reported by the German press doesn't seem certain.

The judge will have seen the body scans of CB, taken by German police well before these cases reached trial, showing the presence of a scar in the upper thigh even if it has since been removed. Depending on the scale of the body scan, the presence of multiple marks would add weight to witness JE's identification in the Salema beach attack. Have the rabbit teeth been discussed yet?

There were 2 unknown victims (witnesses) featured on the rape tapes and 2 known witnesses to the content of those tapes. The court appear to have established that tapes which CB didn't want seen by the PJ did exist. Watching child *advertiser censored* was not illegal in Portugal before Sept 2007 so it's unlikely imo that material of that nature was the reason for CB wanted the videos hidden. I can, however, believe that he wanted videos of women being raped, some in his home, to be kept out of police hands.
All imo.

 

[Davieson]

All the crimes currently being tried have more than one witness to them.

I don't think that is correct.
There's only one witness at the beach and to HaB's rape

 

[RichardKimble]

The judge will have seen the body scans of CB, taken by German police well before these cases reached trial, showing the presence of a scar in the upper thigh even if it has since been removed. Depending on the scale of the body scan, the presence of multiple marks would add weight to witness JE's identification in the Salema beach attack. Have the rabbit teeth been discussed yet?

There were 2 unknown victims (witnesses) featured on the rape tapes and 2 known witnesses to the content of those tapes. The court appear to have established that tapes which CB didn't want seen by the PJ did exist. Watching child *advertiser censored* was not illegal in Portugal before Sept 2007 so it's unlikely imo that material of that nature was the reason for CB wanted the videos hidden. I can, however, believe that he wanted videos of women being raped, some in his home, to be kept out of police hands.
All imo.

IMO the scar /tattoo has been talked about in great length on here, it's never been established if CB had one, had it removed with scar tissue, it was reported even HaB herself could only say it might have been a run in tights,CB doesn't have to prove he doesn't have a scar, it's up to the prosecution to prove, with HaB s testimony to not being sure then it can't be said in all certainty he had a scar/tattoo, as far as I'm aware even the video watchers never mentioned a scar or tattoo.

IMO it'll be fascinating to know come the end of the trial how the court reached its decisions what ever they may be .

 

[Davieson]

The judge will have seen the body scans of CB, taken by German police well before these cases reached trial, showing the presence of a scar in the upper thigh even if it has since been removed. Depending on the scale of the body scan, the presence of multiple marks would add weight to witness JE's identification in the Salema beach attack. Have the rabbit teeth been discussed yet?

There were 2 unknown victims (witnesses) featured on the rape tapes and 2 known witnesses to the content of those tapes. The court appear to have established that tapes which CB didn't want seen by the PJ did exist. Watching child *advertiser censored* was not illegal in Portugal before Sept 2007 so it's unlikely imo that material of that nature was the reason for CB wanted the videos hidden. I can, however, believe that he wanted videos of women being raped, some in his home, to be kept out of police hands.
All imo.

Different tapes. These were the ones found in the Box factory. I don't think a decision has been made on these yet as they have no immediate relevance to the cases under consideration.

 

[Hygge]

I don't think that is correct.
There's only one witness at the beach and to HaB's rape

2 Finnish ladies were witnesses in the HaB case

Different tapes. These were the ones found in the Box factory. I don't think a decision has been made on these yet as they have no immediate relevance to the cases under consideration.

It’s about the tapes CB asked CP and MF to remove and throw away from his farmhouse.

 

[RichardKimble]

2 Finnish ladies were witnesses in the HaB case

It’s about the tapes CB asked CP and MF to remove and throw away from his farmhouse.

Is there any confirmation the Finnish ladies testified?