#Madeleine McCann suspect refusing to speak with investigators

The imprisoned rapist who is the prime suspect in the disappearance of 3-year-old British girl Madeleine McCann is refusing to cooperate with investigators, his attorney says.

Christian Brückner — who is behind bars in Germany for raping an American tourist — is being eyed over the missing youngster, who is feared dead after being abducted from a Portuguese resort in 2007.

The 43-year-old inmate is also being eyed over a series of other attacks around Praia da Luz, according to the Times of London.

German prosecutors and London’s Scotland Yard are following up hundreds of “pieces of information” since Bruckner was identified as a suspect, the paper says.

“Mr B is remaining silent on the allegation at this time on the advice of his defense counsel,” his attorney, Friedrich Fülscher, told the UK paper, calling it “quite common in criminal proceedings.”

“It is the duty of the state to prove that a suspect committed a crime. No accused person has to prove his innocence to the investigating authorities,” the lawyer insisted.

“Silence on an accusation never constitutes admission of the crime. After we have examined the files, we will see how to proceed,” Fülscher told the UK Times.

While refusing to help the case, the suspect is considering legal action against reports linking him to numerous crimes, the attorney said.

“We are reviewing every article and will decide on a case-by-case basis whether to take legal action against the media concerned,” Fülscher said.

Brückner is in prison in Germany for the 2005 rape as well as drug dealing. German police previously confirmed he was a “multiple criminal sex offender, who has also been convicted of child sexual abuse,” the Times of London previously noted.