Madeleine McCann suspect Christian Brueckner had ‘a face-changing operation months after her disappearance’ – as it emerges prosecutors hope to charge him later this year over her disappearance. Brueckner, a convicted paedophile and rapist, had his jaw reset and four ‘rabbit’ teeth straightened during a procedure at a private dental clinic in his native Germany, according to a television investigation. The 45-year-old, who was made an ‘official suspect’ in connection with the toddler’s disappearance last month, is currently serving a seven-year prison sentence for the rape of a 72-year-old woman. The TV probe found he flew from Portugal, where Maddie vanished from a holiday apartment in Praia da Luz on May 3, 2007, back to Germany for the procedure – thought to have cost around £7,500. German police also suspect Brueckner of a string of sex attacks in Portugal – among them an attack on a 10-year-old German girl on a beach just a month before, The Sun reports. The victim in that attack, in April 2007, also told police that the attacker had ‘prominent, rabbit-like teeth’. In their statement they describe how a man grabbed the girl and pulled her to one side on the beach before committing a sex act on himself. Madeleine, three, was sleeping in a bedroom alongside her brother and sister – twins – while parents Kate and Jerry ate dinner with friends in a nearby restaurant when she disappeared on the evening of May 3, 2007 Brueckner, a convicted paedophile and rapist, was named an official suspect in connection with her disappearance last month The girl’s mother saw what was going on and rushed towards her daughter and the attacker – who was naked apart from a backpack and towel over his arm – fled. Two investigative film-makers, working with prosecutors, have also claimed a new witness said Brueckner knew the area ‘inside out’ after doing odd jobs at the holiday spot. They believe he will be charged over Maddie’s disappearance and a sex attack on another girl later this year. But it is understood he flew from Lisbon to Germany in September 2007 for the reconstructive surgery. His teeth were reportedly fixed and his jaw reset at a clinic in Wuerzburg, Bavaria. A man fitting the description was seen lurking around Maddie’s hotel multiple times on the night of her disappearance, but detectives say they tracked down the suspect and ruled him out of having any connection to the case. Prosecutors in Germany hope to charge Brueckner with the attack later this month, as well as at least three other rape attacks and an indecent exposure in Portugal between 2004 and 2012. It is understood that he may also face further charges related to the abduction and rape of an Irish tour rep and indecent exposure towards four children at a play park in the Algarve in 2017. Madeleine went missing from this apartment in the resort of Praia da Luz, Portugal, while on holiday there with her family in 2007 Madeleine McCann’s parents, Kate and Gerry McCann, last month released a message to mark 15 years since their daughter’s disappearance It comes as Hans Christian-Wolters, the prosecutor leading the case, insists they have ‘significant new evidence’ against Brueckner, but ‘not forensic evidence’ and are adamant he is the man responsible. Prosecutors are said to be investigating the possibility Maddie was killed after being abducted and sold to a child trafficking gang. A man who claims to have previously been friends with the suspect has also claimed he knew the apartments in the area ‘inside out’ after working for a technical service firm. But Brueckner has insisted he was having sex with woman in his camper van at time when three-year-old girl vanished, according to reports. He claims to have been stopped and photographed at a police roadblock after driving the woman to the airport at Faro, Portugal, for a flight home the next day. The three-year-old was sleeping in a bedroom alongside her brother and sister – twins – while parents Kate and Jerry ate dinner with friends in a nearby restaurant on the evening of May 3.

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