Madeleine McCann police seek intruder who attacked girls at holiday homes

Madeleine McCann, who disappeared in 2007: police have classed 38 people as “persons of interest” to the inquiry. Photograph: Everton FC/PA

Madeleine McCann police seek intruder who attacked girls at holiday homes

Detectives investigating girl's disappearance look for dark-haired man who sexually abused five girls in Algarve, Portugal

James Meikle

theguardian.com, Wednesday 19 March 2014 / http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/mar/19/madeleine-mccann-police-intruder-girls-algarve

Police investigating the disappearance of Madeleine McCann from a Portuguese holiday resort nearly seven years ago say a lone intruder sexually assaulted five girls aged between seven and 10 in the Algarve between 2004 and 2006.

The four incidents – one involving two girls – were among 12 over six years up to 2010 being examined by officers in which a man entered holiday accommodation, mainly villas, and mostly occupied by British families.

In six of those incidents, the man, said to be dark-haired and tanned, sat on the victims' beds. In nine of the 12 incidents there was no evidence of forced entry or property taken. In three others there was "low-level" theft involving cash or phones. Police said he appeared to "have a very, very, unhealthy interest" in young white girls.

The man, said to be unshaven with unkempt hair, spoke English slowly, with a foreign accent, possibly with slurred speech. Some witnesses suggested he had a pot belly while three victims suggested he had a distinctive smell, one involving aftershave, another tobacco while a third just described "a funny smell".

However, no children were abducted.

Detectives said too there had been an increase in "criminality" and burglary in Praia da Luz that peaked in April 2007, shortly before Madeleine's disappearance.

Scotland Yard also revealed it was looking at 38 "people of interest" in relation to Madeleine's disappearance, having dismissed 22 others from that category. They were also trying to find out more about 530 known sex offenders – 59 regarded as of high interest – across Europe.

Madeleine's parents, Kate and Gerry McCann, have been informed of the latest developments.

Detective Chief Inspector Andy Redwood, in charge of the hunt for Madeleine, accepted there were differences between these cases and that of Madeleine's disappearance but added that there was a possibility that Madeleine had not left her family's holiday apartment alive when she disappeared in May 2007.

In most cases now being examined, the incidents happened between 2am and 5am – later than in the disappearance of Madeleine, then aged three, from a ground floor apartment at the Ocean Club complex in Praia da Luz while her parents had dinner with friends at a nearby restaurant.

Redwood said the assumption that Madeleine had been alive when she left the apartment "may not follow with all our thinking" on the case.

"These offences are very serious and no one has been charged in connection with them. We also need to eliminate this man from our inquiries and ascertain whether these offences are linked to Madeleine's disappearance," he said.

"If you have been a victim of a similar crime please come forward even if you reported the incident to police in Portugal, or anywhere else, please do not assume we have been made aware of it."

There was also a "very close resonance" to some features of Madeleine's disappearance, said Redwood.

"We really need to identify the offender, to bring to a close the trauma and the tragedy that these families have suffered, and then seek to establish whether this is connected to Madeleine's disappearance."

He appealed for information and gave details of a distinctive burgundy long-sleeved top the attacker was said to have worn during two attacks – in the resort areas of Vale de Parra and Praia da Gale. On one occasion it was described as having a white circle on the back.

The appeal will also be made via BBC's Crimewatch on Wednesday night.

Redwood said if names were put forward, his team would be able to eliminate them from inquiries, suggesting the police may have DNA evidence.

Nine of the 12 incidents was reported to Portuguese police at the time they happened, but British investigators only learned of three when the victims came forward in response to televised appeals last autumn.

In the attacks, the suspect may have been in the villa or looking round the villa for some time before committing the offences or being disturbed either by a parent coming in, or the child waking up, say police. On two occasions the noise of a refuse collection lorry could be heard nearby.

Of the 12 offences being investigated, four took place in Carvoeiro, six in Vale da Parra, Praia da Gale district, and two in Praia da Luz.

Detectives have previously suggested Madeleine may have been abducted in a planned operation that had included individuals exploring the resort before hand.

Scotland Yard last October issued efit images of a possible suspect with dark hair reportedly seen carrying a child with blonde hair and possibly wearing pyjamas.

The publication of the pictures on Crimewatch led to a huge response by the public and this man has still not been excluded from the police inquiry.

Efits of two fair-haired men seen near the McCanns' apartment were also released and police in the UK and Portugal have also been investigating break-ins around the resort, one of which occurred the same week a year before Madeleine disappeared and involved a man involving a man who entered a flat where young children were sleeping.

Fresh appeals are also made in Ireland, the Netherlands and Germany.

Scotland Yard has indicated its irritation with the slowness of the formal legal process that would allow its officers to work on the ground in Portugal. The Crown Prosecution Service has three so-called letters of request being considered by the country's legal system, among 30 from Britain on the case now being considered across Europe.

Deputy Assistant Commissioner Martin Hewitt, said: "I am frustrated the legal process is as slow as it is." But he insisted: "We are seeing an increase in the tempo of the investigation."

Scotland Yard says officers involved in the case have made 26 "strategic and tactical". visits to Portugal as well as travelling to Spain, Belgium, Jersey, Switzerland, Holland and Germany as well as working with colleagues across the UK."

Police are asking members of the public with information to call them on 0800 0961011 within the UK. The number for non-UK residents is +44 207 1580 126. Callers can also contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

PJ reabriu inquérito Maddie há meses por causa de suspeito procurado agora pelos ingleses

Mariana Oliveira / PÚBLICO

19/03/2014 - 19:45

A Polícia Metropolitana de Londres anunciou nesta quarta-feira estar a procurar um homem que abusou sexualmente de cinco meninas no Algarve entre 2004 e 2006.

A Polícia Judiciária (PJ) esclareceu nesta quarta-feira que a ligação entre o desaparecimento de Madeleine McCann e um homem que abusou sexualmente de cinco meninas no Algarve, entre 2004 e 2006, corresponde à linha de investigação descoberta pela equipa daquela polícia, criada no Porto, em Março de 2011, para reanalisar o caso, e que fundamentou o pedido de reabertura do inquérito do caso Maddie, em Outubro do ano passado.

Sem se pronunciar sobre o motivo que levou a Polícia Metropolitana de Londres a anunciar nesta quarta-feira que procurava um homem que abusou sexualmente de cinco meninas em Portugal, em casas arrendadas por famílias britânicas no Algarve, fonte da PJ sublinha que a polícia portuguesa “prossegue com a investigação, com a descrição e reserva que a tem caracterizado”.

“As informações divulgadas hoje pela Polícia Metropolitana de Londres correspondem à linha de investigação descoberta pela equipa da PJ liderada pela Dr. Helena Monteiro e que fundamentou o pedido de reabertura do inquérito”, afirmou uma fonte da PJ ligada à investigação deste caso, contactada pelo PÚBLICO. E acrescentou: “Essa linha de investigação foi oportunamente e simultaneamente dada a conhecer à Polícia Metropolitana e aos pais de Madeleine McCann, durante uma reunião, em Outubro do ano passado, na sede da PJ, em Lisboa.”

A fonte da PJ adiantou que as semelhanças entre os cinco casos foram identificadas pela equipa da PJ do Porto e que, apesar de terem existido queixas formais, as autoridades portuguesas nunca encontraram o autor dos abusos sexuais, que poderá ter estado ligado ao desaparecimento de Madeleine McCann, em Maio de 2007, de um apartamento arrendado pela sua família num resort algarvio na Praia da Luz.

Contactado pelo PÚBLICO, um dos porta-vozes da Polícia Metropolitana de Londres recusou-se a comentar os esclarecimentos feitos pela PJ, rejeitando confirmar ou negar que os investigadores britânicos foram informados há meses pelos portugueses sobre esta linha de investigação. Ficou ainda por explicar o motivo por que a Scotland Yard decidiu anunciar nesta quarta-feira que procura um abusador sexual.