GETTY Disgraced MP Clement Freud has been linked to the disappearance of Maddie McCann

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Vicky Haynes, now a 64-year-old grandmother, was only 17 when Freud raped her at his family home in Suffolk before taking her to the races at Newmarket. A close friend of her parents who often used to dine at their fish and chip restaurant, she was unable to tell anyone about the attack that took her virginity. But now the happily married mother-of-two has spoken out about the paedophile - who died in 2009 - and claims he must have known what happened to Madeleine McCann. Vicky Haynes only reported the horrific abuse to police four years ago after Kate McCann's book about her little girl's disappearance revealed the MP had befriended the family at his £1 million holiday villa in Praia da Luz, Portugal - just down the road from the hotel Maddie vanished from.

GETTY Madeleine McCann went missing while on holiday with her family in Portugal

Speaking to the MailOnline, she said: "When I read that, it beggared belief. I wanted Madeleine's parents to know who Clement Freud was. "I wouldn't be at all surprised, when the police investigate Freud and his connections in Praia da Luz, if they find he knew something about the disappearance of Madeleine McCann." The former Liberal MP was "great friends" with Rolf Harris, shared an office with Cyril Smith and had a villa with a swimming pool and sea views just yards from where Maddie had disappeared. Inviting Gerry and Kate McCann over for a lunch of egg and watercress salad and risotto, the shamed broadcaster befriended the couple over strawberry vodka cocktails. Mrs Haynes said: "Why did this 82-year-old man befriend the McCanns out of the blue? The Freud I knew wouldn't engage with you unless he really wanted to. "Why did he invite them round and cook for them? Why, after their long search, did he stay in touch with them? "Could it be he wanted to know the ins and outs of what was going on, and the only way he could do that was by having direct contact with the parents?"

GETTY Parents Kate and Gerry McCann were befriended by Clement Freud

I wouldn't be at all surprised, when the police investigate Freud and his connections in Praia da Luz, if they find he knew something about the disappearance of Madeleine McCann Vicky Haynes

Freud's attack on Mrs Haynes was reported to the NSPCC, who contacted Operation Yewtree — but she claims an "awful policewoman" told her: "This happened years ago. He's dead now. What do you want me to do about it?" Two years later she tried again, after hearing yet another desperate appeal for information from Kate McCann. But eventually her husband of 44-years Chris, a former RAF squadron leader, contacted ITN News, saying she "needed to sort this out once and for all." Her claims - along with those from two other women - were aired in the ITV documentary Exposure, which revealed the MP's chilling secret history of child abuse.

Madeleine McCann: The search continues Fri, February 24, 2017 These are the various computer generated images of how Maddie might look now Play slideshow ph 1 of 14 Madeline McCann went missing from a holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, in Portugal’s Algarve 9 years ago.

GETTY Clement Freud has been accused of sexually assaulting several young women

Just 14 when she met Freud, Vicky Haynes' family trusted him implicitly - so much so her father Sydney sent her to stay at his home the night before the Newmarket Races, after confirming she would be looked after by a housekeeper. After packing a vanity case and a pink nightie, she was taken out to a lavish dinner and filled full of expensive champagne - of which Freud did not drink a drop - before being brought back to his family home. She claims Freud simply climbed on top of her after she got into bed and took her virginity, saying "why didn't you tell me you were a virgin?" before he fell asleep. Mrs Haynes said: "You think about an experience like that every day of your life. "I still see it: his hairiness, it was like being in bed with a gorilla. The bedding — white. The window in the eaves. The white bedside table.

GETTY Vicky Hyanes spoke out after Kate and Gerry McCann launched an apepal