Authorities investigating the disappearance of Madeleine McCann are searching for a man who abused another five British girls on holiday in Portugal, Scotland yard announced on Wednesday.

The three year old gril disappeared in 2007, whilst on holiday in Praia da Luz.

The British police are investigating 12 crimes in holiday accommodation in the Algarve – two occurred in Praia da Luz (Lagos), four in the Carvoeiro (Lagos) resort and six in Vale da Parra e Galé (Albufeira).

In the cases in question, a man entered the properties rented by British families and in four of them abused five girls aged between 7 and 10 years of age whilst they were sleeping. On one of these occasions he abused two girls within the same property.

The majority of the attacks took place between 2004 and 2006, a year before Maddie disappeared. The most recent case was recorded in 2010.

British pólice say that, in spite of the fact that the crimes are not the same, they are very similar. There were no signs of forced entry, nothing was recovered and the intruder entered between the hours of 2 and 5 A.M.
The majority of the crimes took place during the low tourist season and on two occasions witnesses spoke of the noise of a rubbish disposal lorry in the proximity.

Investigators think that the suspect could have observed the holiday accommodations “several times” before carrying out the attacks on the girls.

In some cases, the girls’ parents awoke and surprised the intruder, who, according to the police, always remained calm.

Witnesses describe the man as having tanned skin, short and disheveled dark hair. He spoke English with a foreign accent, sometimes appeared bare chested and at other times wearing a dark red shirt and with a noticeable pot belly.

British authorities think that that there could be more (similar) crimes, but that the families of the victims have not presented any complaint. As a result, they launched an appeal for further information and released the image of a red shirt that could be associated to the suspect.

“If anyone has been a victim of such a crime, please declare it, even if it has already been denounced before the Portuguese police force or any other”, said Andy Redwood, who is heading the investigation, emphasizing the importance of identifying this child abuser.

“These offences are very serious, yet nobody has been charged so far”, he added, underlining that it is important to identify this man in order to establish whether he is linked to the disappearance of Maddie.
As a result of the public appeal made last year for information that could lead to resolving the case, British authorities say they have received more than 5.000 contacts.

Investigators continue to try to identify the man who was seen by three witnesses carrying a child, whose identity coincides with that of Maddie, heading towards the beach, at about 22.00 hours, on the night of the disappearance from Praia da Luz.

PJ Investigation

A PJ source told Lusa agency that “the information released today by the Metropolitan Police corresponds to the lines of investigation taken by the PJ under the direction of Helena Monteiro”.

The same source specifies that the “re-opening of the legal investigation” occurred as a result of the discovery of the suspect by the PJ.

“This line of investigation was made known to the English police and to Maddie’s parents (Gerry and Kate McCann) during a meeting that took place in October 2013, at the PJ offices in Lisbon”.