THE cop who secured the release of Madeleine McCann prime suspect Christian Brueckner as early as this week is an ex German FBI agent who “felt sorry for him”.
Rebecca K, 39, paid a £1,300 court fee — hitting hopes of charging the rapist over the disappearance of Maddie, three, at Prai da Luz, Portugal, in 2007
A German FBI agent who helped free Christian B said she knew he was a rapist and paedo[/caption]
Cop Rebecca K, 39, has been revaeled as the mystery donor who paid a £1,300 court fee owed by Christian Brueckner[/caption]
There are fears Brueckner could go to ground after being released, scuppering chances of charging him over Madeleine’s disappearance[/caption]
The cop said she knew he was a rapist and paedophile — but feared that his human rights were being violated.
Her baffling act of charity means the German fiend can walk free as early as this week, rather than January next year.
There are fears he could go to ground, scuppering investigators who race to charge him over Madeleine’s disappearance from Portugal’s Praia da Luz in 2007.
K was part of the covert team monitoring Brueckner before a fall-out with colleagues saw her career fizzle out.
Extraordinarily, she said of the convicted paedophile and rapist: “I felt sorry for him.
“He claimed he had been tortured and I believed his human rights might have been infringed.
“I thought he had to pay a fine because he said things that I considered to be true from what I knew from reading the newspapers.
“I thought his human rights had been violated in the same way I felt my human rights had been violated by my former colleagues.”
K had been a plain-clothes cop in a crack squad hunting terrorists and other serious criminals.
Despite signing a string of confidentiality agreements, she admits revealing secrets about the investigation to Brueckner’s legal team.
But she said: “This was a completely honest mistake I thought they already knew.”
When she was first confronted by The Sun, Rebecca K said paying the fine had been “a mistake” and she planned to get it withdrawn.
However, she later changed her mind again, paving the way for Brueckner’s early release. The latest he could go is September 17.
She told The Sun: “When I paid the fine I knew Brueckner was a convicted, violent rapist and child abuser but his lawyer told me that he denies everything, and it was maybe wrong.”
She admitted also being selfishly motivated by revenge after falling out with her team at the Bundeskriminalamt (BKA) — Germany’s equivalent of the FBI.
She claims she was asked not to come back from maternity leave – which the BKA denies.
K said: “If Madeleine’s parents asked me why I did this I would say to help find out the truth about my own case.”
Brueckner was jailed for raping a US woman, 72, in Praia da Luz, in 2005 — two years before Madeleine disappeared from the resort.
He has been named publicly as the prime suspect since 2020 but has never been charged.
In letters he has denied the claims but has refused to answer police questions or give an alibi.
His phone was in Praia da Luz on the night Madeleine vanished and he made a 30-minute call from the area.
The fiend’s Jaguar was re-registered the day after.
A Sun investigation this year revealed bombshell new evidence – including Brueckner’s obsession with snatching and abusing young blonde girls.
We also placed him at key locations of interest, including a lake where cops dug for evidence. And we showed he all but confessed in 2008, when he allegedly said Madeleine “did not scream”.
It was hoped that Brueckner’s outstanding court fine would delay his release, giving investigators vital time to bring charges.
K tried to defend her decision to pay it — reasoning that if her old team had less time, they might hurry up and charge him.
This in turn, she said, would lead to files released which could help with her own dispute.
She told The Sun: “I thought if he was being released early it would put pressure on my supervisors.
“I thought rather than let him disappear they would charge him over the McCann case. I thought that would mean all the information would come out and prove my case against German police.”
Police maintain they have physical evidence Madeliene is dead – but no forensic links.
A BKA spokesperson said the employee’s allegations were being comprehensively reviewed, and she left the force voluntarily.
It said employees were expected to maintain confidentiality surrounding their roles by law.
A spokesman warned: “The BKA also takes legal action if false accusations are made.”
Last night K appeared to change her mind again, and said she regrets paying the fine.
She said: “I wanted to withdraw the money but I was told it wasn’t possible. This isn’t what I wanted.”
German prosecutors on the Madeleine case declined to comment.
The fiend’s Jaguar was re-registered the day after Madeleine disappeared[/caption]
Maddie vanished on May 3, 2007 in Portugal[/caption]