Police searching for missing British girl Madeleine McCann have launched a new appeal for a man who may have sexually abused children in Portugal.
Officers from Operation Grange have identified a series of 12 crimes between 2004 and 2010, where a male intruder entered villas occupied by UK families on holiday in the Western Algarve.
In four of these incidents - between 2004 and 2006 - the man sexually assaulted five girls, aged between 7 and 10, whilst in their beds. The cases are not identical but there are enough similarities for police to believe finding this suspect could be key.
In most cases there were no signs of forced entry, nothing was taken and the intruder appeared between 2am and 5pm.
Madeleine vanished in 2007 from a holiday apartment in Praia da Luz. Of the 12 offences at the centre of the new lead, four were in Carvoeiro, six in the Vale da Parra and two in Praia da Luz.
Madeleine has been missing since 2007
DCI Andy Redwood, the senior investigating officer, said "We need to establish the identity of this man. 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".
"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" he added.
The suspect is described as having tanned skin with short dark unkempt hair. Witnesses say he spoke in English with a foreign accent and his voice has been described as slow, or possibly slurred.
On two occasions, in Vale de Parra and Praia da Gale, he was wearing a distinctive burgundy long sleeve top with a white circle on the back.
'Distinctive top' worn by the man police what to speak to
Anyone with information should call +44-207-1580-126. Reporter Ian Woods is at Scotland Yard in London and has more details about the suspect.
