Woman ‘raped by Madeleine McCann suspect’ says she’s ‘delighted I’m finally going to see justice’ after new charges
A WOMAN allegedly raped by Madeleine McCann suspect Christian B has told of her relief and “delight” that he has now been charged.
Former holiday rep Hazel Behan, 39, who previously waived her right to anonymity, believed there was “zero chance” her alleged attacker would face court after 18 years.
She spoke out after Christian B, 45, was charged with a series of sex crimes - but none related to the disappearance of the British toddler.
The convicted rapist - still behind bars - is due to go on trial early next year.
Ms Behan, from Dublin, was just 20 when she claimed she been brutally attacked by a “German man with piercing blue eyes” at her apartment in Portimao, Portugal.
The rapist allegedly held her at knifepoint, tied her up and beat her and filmed her terrifying ordeal after scaling onto her apartment balcony in June 2004.
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The Irish mum-of-three told : "I am delighted that after many hours and days of interviews in Ireland and Germany I am finally going to see justice. It was the most horrific attack.
"It was very hard and gruelling going back over the attack, having to spend over 20 hours with detectives in Ireland and then three days with police in Germany.
“But the specific dedicated teams in both countries were so sensitive and good at taking me back to my room that night."
The ex-Sinn Fein constituency manager added: "I always said from the get-go that my attacker was a German with piercing blue eyes and a voice I would recognise immediately.
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“When B’s name was released in connection to the Madeleine case and to the rape of that poor woman Diana Menkes, I knew it was him. It made me sick to the core."
Ms Behan said she was convinced she had "zero chance of justice".
"Thanks to all of the campaigning and the perseverance of Madeleine’s amazing parents... 18 long years after my rape, I have an opportunity to see my attacker behind bars (for my crime)," she said.
Christian B was further charged with two more aggravated rapes and two assaults on children - including one involving a 10-year-old girl on an Algarve beach just weeks before Maddie disappeared in May 2007.
German prosecutors said the five offences he committed took place in Portugal between December 28, 2000, and June 11, 2017.
"The accused is the same person against whom charges were brought in connection with the disappearance of the then 3-year-old British girl Madeleine Beth McCann," the Braunschweig prosecutor's office said in a statement.
"Specifically, the accused is charged with three offences of aggravated rape and two offences of sexual abuse of children," the prosecutor's office added.
The office said the charges are separate from the Madeleine McCann case.
Christian B was sensationally named in connection with Maddie’s disappearance in June 2020.
But no charges have been brought and the investigation has failed to positively link him - despite prosecutors insisting they have “concrete evidence” that Maddie was dead and he was responsible.
The German’s lawyer Friedrich Fulscher said the new charges had come as a “complete surprise” to him and his client.
He said they were based on “dubious witnesses and on her to a wooden pole and whipping her on an unknown date between 2000 and 2006".
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Maddie’s parents, Gerry and Kate, both 54, of Rothley, Leicestershire, have vowed never to give up on the search for their daughter.
The couple from Rothley, Leicestershire, cling onto a glimmer of hope she could still be alive. She would now be aged 19.