Madeleine McCann Suspect Christian Brueckner '100 Percent' Kidnapped Toddler, Ex-Associate Insists Ahead of Rapist's Release From Prison

Christian Brueckner is just days away from his prison release — and an ex-associate is insisting he's the man behind the 2007 disappearance of 3-year-old toddler Madeleine McCann.

Brueckner has been named a prime suspect in McCann's infamous missing person case, though he was never formally charged in connection to her kidnapping.

While the convicted criminal has been serving a seven-year sentence for raping a 72-year-old woman in Portugal — near where McCann went missing — he is set to be released this week after completing his time behind bars.

Ahead of Brueckner's release from jail, a former associate of the rapist spoke out during an interview with British ITV News urging authorities to somehow not let the inmate out of prison.

"I want Christian go behind bars for this, for the case of Madeleine McCann. This was him, I am 100 percent sure," fellow criminal and ex-associate Helge Busching declared to a reporter from an undisclosed location in Europe. "He can say I am innocent. I know what he was doing, I saw it with my proper eyes. I know he's dangerous man."

Busching made it a point to note that he and Brueckner were never personal friends, but ran a "business" together for some time in the Algarve region of Portugal — participating in things like stealing solar panels, diesel and drug dealing.

Busching said he's now a changed man who has left his criminal history in the past and become a key witness for the German authorities in McCann's disappearance.

"He's a dangerous man. A really dangerous man," Busching emphasized of Brueckner days before the convicted pedophile is set to walk free.

During his interview, Busching chillingly recalled a conversation he had with Brueckner while attending a festival in Spain one year after McCann vanished from her family's holiday villa in Portugal.

"I told him I don't understand how somebody can rob little children from a hotel," Busching recounted, though it was Brueckner's alleged response that was concerning.

According to Busching, Brueckner replied: "She was not screaming."

The comment caused Busching to wonder, "How [do] you know this... yeah he [has] something [to do] with this," though he was too afraid to question Brueckner further before the rapist abruptly left the festival that night.

"He took Maddie out from this hotel. He is involved, sure," Busching claimed.

Police have never found enough evidence to formally charge Brueckner for McCann's kidnapping, though he was first named a prime suspect by German authorities in 2020.

At the time, law enforcement officials said McCann was assumed dead and Brueckner was likely the one responsible.

The convicted child abuser, however, has vehemently denied any involvement in McCann's disappearance and assumed murder.