Madeleine McCann: Attention Turns To The Foreign Sex Attacker Wearing What Could Be An Arsenal Shirt
THE sun is out, spring is here and thoughts turn to holidays overseas. And with it all comes more news of Madeleine McCann. The BBC reports:
Madeleine McCann: Police hunt sex attacker
Who is this criminal?
UK police probing the disappearance of Madeleine McCann are seeking an intruder who sexually abused five girls in Portugal between 2004 and 2006. Detectives say the attacks happened in holiday villas occupied by UK families in the Algarve. The man, described as tanned with dark hair, is suspected of breaking in to 12 properties from 2004 to 2010.
They don’t know his identity.
Madeleine was three when she went missing from a holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, Algarve, in May 2007. The five girls – aged between seven and 10 – were sexually assaulted in their beds.
Det Ch Insp Andy Redwood says the man had an “unhealthy interest in young white female children”.
Well, yes. He adds:
“We need to establish the identity of this man.”
Yes, again. And not only to try to link his alleged crimes with the vanishing of Madeleine McCann.
Redwood adds:
“These offences are very serious and no one has been charged in connection with them. We also need to eliminate this man from our enquiries and ascertain whether these offences are linked to Madeleine’s disappearance.”
So. It’s just another line of enquiry.
Are there any clues? Did the attacks end when the child vanished?
Police said the man was bare-chested in some of the attacks, and some witnesses said he had a pot belly. Three victims said he had a “noticeable odour”. Two of the families said the intruder had worn a distinctive burgundy long-sleeved top, and one family said the top had a white circle on the back. The man was said to have spoken English slowly, with a foreign accent.
And then this:
While not identical, many aspects of the sexual assaults were similar, police said.
And:
The incidents had previously been discounted by Portuguese investigators because they were spread over a wide geographical area and there had been no apparent attempts at abduction.
So. It might not be one man, then. It might be more than one.
The NY Daily News says this is “a new break in the case of missing girl Madeleine McCann”.
Is it?
The Evening Standard produces a map: Of the twelve offences, there were four in Carvoeiro, six in the Vale da Parra, Praia da Gale district and two in Praia da Luz.
Justin Davenport notes:
In a sensational development, Scotland Yard announced officers are investigating 12 potentially linked crimes in holiday resorts near to where Madeleine vanished in 2007.
In every case a man broke into mainly holiday villas occupied by British families -—and in four of them he assaulted five young white girls aged seven to 10 as they lay in bed. On one occasion he assaulted two girls in the same villa.
Did he also break into places occupied by families of other nationalities?
Why now is this fact emerging? The Express reports:
Nine of the 12 incidents were reported to Portuguese police at the time they happened, and details of three of those became known to British investigators only after they made televised appeals last autumn.
Children were attacked but the parents never told the Portuguese police?
And, if we are playing armchair detective, that top pictured above. It looks a bit like this top, no, the Arsenal FC kit for 2005?
Police have issued this appeal:
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. While some of these offences have been in the public domain before, following our appeal in October three more were reported to us as a direct result of that appeal.
One of those reports we believe is the first in the potential series.
– DCI ANDY REDWOOD
Numbers for victims to call:In the UK: 0800 0961011
Non-UK residents: +44 207 1580 126
Those wishing to remain anonymous: Crimestoppers – 0800 555 111
Such are the facts…
Posted: 19th, March 2014 | In: Madeleine McCann, Reviews Comments (2) | TrackBack | Permalink
