The key suspect in the 2007 disappearance of toddler Madeleine McCann has been released from a German prison after serving a seven-year sentence for an unrelated sex crime.

German prosecutors first named Christian Brueckner as a suspect in 2020, when he was already serving the sentence for raping a 72-year-old woman in the same part of Portugal’s Algarve region where McCann went missing.

On Wednesday (local time), his lawyer drove him out of the prison grounds in an Audi, escorted by a police van.

Brueckner’s lawyer denies the former prisoner has any connection with the McCann case. He did not immediately respond to a request to comment on his client’s release.

Brueckner, 49, has convictions for child abuse and drug trafficking, as well as the rape of the woman, who has since died.

Prosecutors said he would need to wear an electronic tag for five years, meet his parole officer monthly and declare to the court any changes of residence.

“Any violation of these conditions could lead to a fine or up to three years in prison,” prosecutor Christian Wolters said.

Brueckner wore the ankle bracelet when leaving the prison in Sehnde, near Hanover, on Wednesday, according to prosecutors.

Der Spiegel said Brueckner’s passport had been cancelled and quoted a legal analyst describing the conditions as an attempt to keep him “in a kind of investigative detention”.

McCann, then aged three, disappeared from her bedroom in a holiday resort as her British parents dined metres away.

Police in Britain, Germany and Portugal – who have identified Brueckner as their main suspect – have long sought evidence to link him conclusively to the case.

In June, Portuguese and German police spent four days digging for evidence in the Algarve.

British police said on Monday that Brueckner declined their request for an interview in connection with the disappearance. They said they would continue to pursue any viable lines of inquiry.

Brueckner lived in the Algarve between 1995 and 2007, where, according to court documents seen by Reuters, he burgled hotels and holiday flats.

McCann’s parents continue to campaign for their daughter, who would now be 22, to be found and issue a statement each year on the anniversary of her disappearance.

“We love her dearly and miss her beyond words,” they wrote on their website.

-AAP