Primary Suspect In Madeleine McCann's 2007 Disappearance to Be Released From Prison This Month: Report By Sean Neumann

The lead suspect in the 2007 disappearance of 3-year-old Madeleine McCann is expected to be released from a German prison within a month, according to a new report.

The BBC reported Friday that convicted rapist Christian Brueckner, who has long been police’s primary suspect in the British toddler’s disappearance, is expected to be released from a German jail by Sept. 17. The outlet cited confirmation from the lead prosecutor in the investigation into McCann’s disappearance, who said that the 48-year-old German man remains “not just our number one suspect, he’s the only suspect” in the case.

“There is no-one else,” Braunschweig Public Prosecutor’s Office Hans Christian Wolters told the BBC. “We have evidence which speaks against [Brueckner], which indicates that he is responsible for the disappearance and the death of Madeleine McCann.”

The prosecutor added: “We haven’t found anything in the last five years that exonerates [Brueckner]. We found evidence that strengthens our case. But in our view it’s not strong enough to make a guilty verdict likely, and that’s why so far we couldn’t charge him or apply for an arrest warrant.”

PEOPLE reported in late June that Brueckner could be released from prison this year after an anonymous individual paid an outstanding fine in relation to charges for forgery and bodily harm that he received in the past. The anonymous benefactor was not identified, but the German weekly Der Spiegel reported that the individual was a former employee of Germany’s Federal Criminal Police Office.

Brueckner has never been charged in connection with McCann’s disappearance, but he was formally named the investigation’s primary suspect in April 2022.

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Brueckner received a seven-year sentence in December 2019 for raping a 72-year-old American woman in Portugal in 2005, PEOPLE previously reported.

While he appealed the 2019 sentence, Brueckner was linked to McCann’s disappearance.

McCann went missing during a family vacation in Praia da Luz, Portugal while her parents Kate and Gerry McCann were dining at a nearby restaurant with friends about 130 feet away.

The couple had left Madeleine and her 2-year-old twin siblings asleep in the rental apartment and had been checking in on their kids throughout the night — but at one point, Kate checked in on the kids and discovered a window to the house left open and her oldest daughter missing.

The McCanns were initially considered suspects in their daughter’s disappearance after forensic tests revealed traces of Madeleine’s blood in a car they rented 25 days after her disappearance. However, more than a decade later, German investigators zeroed in on Brueckner as their primary suspect, claiming they have evidence that connects him to the girl’s disappearance.

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Wolters told CNN in 2020 that authorities “actually have findings that suggest that he is Madeleine McCann’s murderer” but that prosecutors have “insufficient evidence to convict.” 

A 2016 search of Brueckner’s home uncovered “deeply concerning” materials depicting child abuse and writings allegedly made by Brueckner that described the kidnapping of young children, according to a Times of London report and another by The Sun. The outlets also reported that investigators found more than 75 children’s swimsuits and toys at Brueckner’s home.

The soon-to-be-released German suspect has a history of sexual abuse, including against children, PEOPLE previously reported. The German national had first been charged with committing sexual offenses against children in 1993 and was later extradited from Portugal to Germany in 2017, where he spent 17 months in prison for sexually abusing a child.