Maddie prosecutor vows ‘NOTHING’S changed’ & probe into top suspect Christian B will go on after court tosses rape case
A GERMAN prosecutor investigating Madeleine McCann's case has vowed the probe into prime suspect Christian B will continue even after a court dismissed a possible rape trial.
Investigator Hans Christian Wolters said that "nothing has changed" after it emerged the convicted paedo may not face charges over a series of alleged rapes and sexual offences.
A court in the city of Braunschweig rejected a possible rape trial on Thursday for Christian B. after it deemed itself not to have jurisdiction over the case.
The Braunschweig court lifted its arrest warrant after it established that the suspect's last registered place of residence in the city was in 2016.
And even though the ruling sparked fears it may have an impact on Maddie's case, investigator Hans Christian Wolters insists that the probe will continue "as planned" and the suspect will not be released.
He told The Sun: "Initially, nothing will change as a result of the decision, we will continue to investigate the Maddie case and the accused will remain in custody."
He explained that the decision by the Braunschweig court will need to be reviewed - and in the meantime, the investigation into Maddie's case will proceed.
"With regard to the decision of the Regional Court of Braunschweig on jurisdiction in the pending proceedings, we will first carefully examine the reasons and then probably have the decision reviewed by the Higher Regional Court of Braunschweig.
"We continue to assume that we are responsible for a decision by the Higher Regional Court, so that the investigations into the Maddie case will continue as planned.
"In our view, there is currently no reason for speculation about the possible responsibility of the Magdeburg public prosecutor's office for the investigations into the Maddie case and a possible related abandonment of the proceedings."
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Christian B faces three counts of aggravated and two offences of sexual abuse of children - all in Portugal - between December 28, 2000, and June 11, 2017.
Bild first reported that the Braunschweig court had lifted its arrest warrant, citing jailed Christian B's lawyer Friedrich Fülscher.
But he could be charged with the same offences in a different court in Germany.
A possible trial at the Braunschweig Regional Court was expected to take place this year.
The regional tribunal in Braunschweig said it had decided it was "not competent" to hear the case against Christian B. because his "last known address" in Germany was in another state, Saxony-Anhalt.
"On the basis of the court's decision, the Braunschweig justice system is also not competent in the 'Maddie' case," Fülscher said in an emailed statement.
"The Federal Court of Justice has long since decided that where a suspect is registered does not matter when establishing a place of residence," he added.
"Before he was arrested, the accused lived abroad on his property in Neuwegersleben."
Christian B, 45, is currently serving a seven-year sentence in Germany over the rape of a pensioner in Praia da Luz-the same area in Portugal where Maddie went missing in 2007 aged three.
Based on evidence that was uncovered during the Maddie investigation he then was charged three offences of aggravated rape and two offences of the sexual abuse of children allegedly committed in Portugal at the time she went missing.
These charges have now been dropped by the Braunschweig court.
But it's believed the public prosecutor's office and the court in Magdeburg or Frankfurt could take charge of the case.
German prosecutors previously claimed Christian broke into a victim's apartment in a mask, tied her and raped her before hitting her with a whip.
He is also alleged to have sexually assaulted a 14-year-old German-speaking girl at his home in Praia da Luz.
In a separate reported attack on June 16, 2004, a 20-year-old Irish woman was allegedly raped at knifepoint after the suspect broke into her holiday apartment in Praia da Rocha, just a 35-minute drive from Praia da Luz.
The alleged attack was filmed before the suspect escaped via the apartment balcony.
He is also accused of sexually assaulting a 10-year-old German girl on April 7, 2007, less than a month before Madeleine's disappearance.
A final charge against Christian B relates to an incident on June 11, 2017.
He was arrested after allegedly pulling down his trousers and performing a sex act in front of an 11-year-old girl during a festival in Bartolomeu de Messines, around a 40-minute drive from Praia da Luz.
Christian B, has denied any involvement in Maddie's disappearance and insisted the allegations were a “fairy tale”.
Maddie, from Leicestershire, went missing from her bed in an Algarve holiday apartment on the evening of May 3, 2007.
Her disappearance sparked a massive international manhunt and would become the world's most well-known missing child case.
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No trace of her has ever been found and no one has ever been formally charged over her disappearance.
She would be just shy of her 19th birthday.