Madeleine McCann’s parents face new heartache as prosecutors say suspect Christian B may not be charged until next year

MADELEINE McCann's parents face fresh heartache after prosecutors revealed they would not be charging the prime suspect until next year at the earliest.

Convicted rapist and paedophile Christian B, 43, was identified as the man responsible for the three-year old's kidnap and murder by the German authorities in June.

Kate and Gerry hoped it would mark the end of their 13 year agony at not knowing what had happened to their beloved daughter but now their hopes have been dashed.

Speaking exclusively to The Sun, prosecutor Hans Christian Wolters admitted leads had dried up and there would be no developments this year, with charges unlikely before the Spring and only if they find more evidence.

He said: ''I cannot say how long our investigation will go on for but I know there will be no developments this year, in 2020. We had hoped to charge him but that has not been possible.

''Maybe we hope to have something by the Spring of 2021, maybe it could take longer but certainly nothing this year.

''We have some evidence against our suspect but it is not strong enough. We have proof that he was involved and that he killed Madeleine but it's not strong enough to charge him.

''We need more evidence and more witnesses but if we don't get them then the case may drop but we hope that will not happen and he will be charged.''

His downbeat comments are in contrast to June where he announced in a headline grabbing news conference he had ''concrete evidence'' Maddie was dead.

He added: ''So long as we have something to investigate then we will investigate but if no witnesses come forward then we will have to come to an end but at the moment I can't see this point.

"It may be that we have to make another appeal to see if we can get any more tips.

''We have not been in touch with Madeleine's parents other than a few months ago when we made the announcement of our investigation because there is no need to."

Last month Christian B's lawyer Friedrich Fulscher - who insists his client is innocent - called on prosecutors to reveal their evidence to be ''fair'' to his client and the McCann family.

He added: ''The prosecutor has not revealed anything to us about the investigation.

"They are adamant but they are chasing someone who is just convenient to them.''

Madeleine disappeared from her holiday apartment in Praia da Luz on Portugal's Algarve coast in May 2007.

Christian B - who has convictions for rape and child abuse - is currently serving 21 months for drug offences in Germany's Kiel prison.

At the end of last month we reported how Scotland Yard detectives reportedly held a secret meeting with German and Portuguese police in Lisbon in a bid to find Madeleine.

The aim of the conference was to fine-tune suspect Christian B's profile to try to work out where the child’s body may have been buried after she was kidnapped, with German cops believing she is dead.

The meeting is said to have taken place “recently” at the Lisbon HQ of the Policia Judiciaria (PJ), the force heading the Portuguese probe into the three-year-old's disappearance, reports daily newspaper Correio da Manha.

Three wells near Praia da Luz are known to have been searched in July but police and firefighters failed to find any trace of Madeleine.

German authorities are treating the case as a murder inquiry and say they have concrete evidence the missing youngster is dead - but have yet to reveal what this evidence they have.

The abandoned wells are a 15-minute drive from Christian B's rented cottage on the outskirts of Praia de Luz, on a narrow road leading down to a beach where the paedophile used to park his VW camper van.

Christian B is also being probed in Germany over a 2004 Algarve rape and a sex attack on a beach near Praia da Luz a month before Madeleine vanished.

In Portugal, prosecutors have reopened their investigation into a sex crime in a playground he was arrested over in 2017.

He was held on suspicion of exposing himself to young children at a playground in Sao Bartolomeu de Messines a 40-minute drive from Praia de Luz. 

Police discovered after his detention that he was wanted by Germany on an international arrest warrant for child sex abuse and possession of child pornography.

He was extradited to his homeland and was never prosecuted in Portugal following his Algarve arrest.

The criminal probe was mothballed despite protests from the youngsters’ angry parents but reopened in September.