GERMAN paedophile and chief suspect in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann was jailed for sexually abusing his friend’s five-year-old daughter.
The suspect, known as Christian B, attacked the little girl in a public park before taking graphic photographs of her, the Mail on Sunday has revealed.
The disturbing photographs were found on his digital camera and laptop as police investigated him over a separate claim of domestic violence.
The child was abused when Christian B was living in Braunschweig, northern Germany.
At that time, cops were hunting for Madeleine McCann who had vanished while on holiday in Praia da Luz in May 2007.
He was running a kiosk at the time, selling drinks and confectionary.
The monster had been accused of assaulting the woman he was living with, who was not the mum of his victim.
After his flat was raided by the police, they discovered the laptop and camera containing the images of the girl.
Cops were able to track down the scene of the hideous crime and find the girl, who had moved to a different part of Germany with her mum.
Last night, Thomas Klinge, the Chief Prosecutor in Hanover said: “I can confirm that there was the child abuse case.
“Christian B was sentenced in 2017 for one year and three months.”
Christian B, as he is known by German justice officials, had already fled to the Algarve in Portugal, where he had been living on and off since the mid 1990s.
After finding the abusive imagery, German cops had issued an arrest warrant, but it was four years before they tracked him down.
He was pulled back onto the police radar following reports he had exposed himself to children at a park 40 miles from Praia da Luz.
In 2005, Christian B was put behind bars for the torture and rape of a 72-year-old American woman.
He attacked her in her own home in Praia da Luz and was given a seven year sentence.
It was recently revealed that he made another early jail release bid claiming the case is based on an “unreliable” witness.
His lawyer, Friedrich Fulscher, said the main witness against his client is a criminal who swapped information for police favours.
The witness is thought to have told detectives that 43-year-old German drifter Christian B told him in a bar that he knew what had happened to Madeleine, who was three at the time she vanished from a Portuguese holiday apartment in 2007.
Mr Fulscher believes the informant may later, in return for telling cops this information, have got early release from a sentence he was serving in a foreign country.
Mr Fulscher told Sky News: “If this is the same person, I think it’s the worst witness you can get.
“A human who has spent his whole life cheating people for his own benefit is never a reliable witness.”
Christian B is the target of German prosecutor Hans Christian Wolter.
Mr Wolter has publicly said he believes Christian abducted and killed Madeleine, but does have enough evidence to charge him.
This week he said was still looking for vital evidence against Christian B, but has not questioned his suspect.
Mr Fulscher said Christian B’s reputation would now be forever tarnished as many people would always consider him responsible for Madeleine’s disappearance.
He said: “If you pee in the same place long enough it will stink. And that’s definitely what’s happening in the Christian B case.
“He won’t be able to lead a normal life at any point, without being recognised and facing hostility.
“A prosecutor who goes public (during an investigation) knows that. He can destroy a reputation and it was taken very lightly in this case.”
Christian B has a list of previous convictions including rape, child sex offences, theft and dishonesty.
He denies any involvement in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann.
Mr Fulscher said: “Of course, he is no ‘innocent lamb’, he has made many mistakes in his past which have been punished by the law – and that is completely right.
“It is a basic principle of our system that someone who has served his sentence can claim his right to be part of society again.
“I don’t think he is someone who has done everything right in his life, but that doesn’t mean that you can suddenly condemn him for things he hasn’t done.”
