German prosecutors have said the investigation into Madeleine McCann’s disappearance will continue despite a man under investigation over the 2007 incident being acquitted of unrelated sexual offences.
Christian Brueckner was cleared at a court in Brunswick of three charges of aggravated rape and two of sexual abuse of children.
Hans Christian Wolters, one of the German prosecutors on the case, told the PA news agency: “The investigation into Madeleine McCann’s case continues despite today’s decision. This plays no role in the McCann case.”
Brueckner has not been charged in the McCann case, in which he is under investigation on suspicion of murder.
Prosecutors had argued for the German national to be handed a 15-year sentence for the sex offences and are expected to appeal against the decision.
Brueckner, 47, is already serving a seven-year prison term in Germany for raping a woman in 2005 in the part of Portugal’s Algarve region where three-year-old Madeleine went missing.
Defence lawyers said there was a lack of evidence, with witnesses who were not credible.
Friedrich Fulscher, defending Brueckner, told the court that “there was never a sufficient suspicion” against his client.
Mr Fulscher also suggested Brueckner might not have been charged if he had not been a suspect in the McCann case.
He spent many years in Portugal, including in the resort of Praia da Luz around the time of Madeleine’s disappearance in May 2007. He has denied any involvement in her disappearance.
Brueckner will remain in prison for another year to complete his seven-year sentence for the previous rape case.
The Brunswick state court had jurisdiction for the most recent case because Brueckner had his last German residence in that city in Lower Saxony.
