Interpol In Rare Sex Abuse Appeal

[lopburi3]

OPERATION VICO

Thai police chief: Paedophile suspect "threat to society"

Watch photo gallery of Christopher Neil's press conference inside.

Thai police chief: Paedophile suspect "threat to society"

Bangkok - A Canadian paedophile suspect sat calmly in dark sunglasses without speaking when presented to the press in the Thai capital Bangkok following his arrest earlier Friday.

Thailand's deputy national police chief told more than 100 reporters that Christopher Paul Neil, 32, appeared to be "a serious threat to society" who is suspected of having abused scores, possibly hundreds, of boys - some younger than 10 - and girls.

Pol Gen Wongkot Maneerin said that it was likely that Neil, a wandering English teacher, would be tried in Thailand for abusing boys during his time as an English teacher in Bangkok in 2003.

These crimes carry a penalty of 20 years in jail in Thailand.

German police investigators triggered an international furore when they managed to "uncoil" his digitally altered internet photographs that showed him abusing many young boys in Cambodia and Vietnam.

Neil had hidden his face by lifting his T-shirt after being escorted into Bangkok police headquarters past a scrum of reporters, many from overseas.

Later as he was presented to the press he appeared calm, with no expression.

General Wongkot himself questioned the suspect - a sign of the international interest in a case that galvanized police in a dozen countries.

"His behaviour was not normal. His sexual behaviour seems to have been extraordinary," the deputy police chief said.

"We are lucky that we have stopped him now. We have many of his victims coming forward to give evidence against him," he added.

The Thai police issued an arrest warrant Thursday after a Thai boy came forward to accuse the Canadian of paying for oral sex.

Neil was finally arrested Friday morning in Nakorn Ratchasima, 210 kilometres north-east of Bangkok, after fleeing South Korea a week earlier, following the release of his picture by Interpol with a "red alert," its highest search signal.

The Thai police said he was tracked down after a tip-off.

Canada also has laws allowing it to punish paedophiles for their activities in third countries.

Former colleagues have regaled reporters with evidence of an "unassuming character" who was a "diligent teacher."

But writings attributed to him on the Facebook social-networking website and elsewhere show evidence of an arrogant character who offered advice about cleaning a computer of "dangerous" photographs and how to avoid character checks when applying for teaching jobs.

Neil fled Korea after wiping hundreds of postings he had made on an English teachers' discussion group and shaving his hair off.

At least two young Thais said Neil abused them and paid them money after luring them to an apartment he used to rent in Bangkok several years ago, according to the Thai police.

The German police started investigating his activities when they discovered three years ago that his swirl-disguised picture was common to scores of internet images of his paedophile activities in Asia.

His family in Canada had urged him to give himself up.//dpa

The Nation

[george]

Cyber-technology, citizen power enable Thai police to nab suspected paedophile

BANGKOK: -- World-wide attention broadcast by contemporary media and Internet technology from Interpol and the Royal Thai Police enabled local residents in upcountry Thailand to identify a Canadian schoolteacher and inform the authorities of his location.

The arrest of Canadian schoolteacher Christopher Paul Neil, a former school chaplain, was made in the home of a Thai friend alleged to be responsible for enabling the foreigners sexual encounters with young Thai boys.

Covering his head with a shirt, Mr. Neil was led by police officers through a crowd of media, and later appeared at a Royal Thai Police press conference wearing dark glasses.

The suspect did not speak and was led away without being interviewed by the media.

Following a flurry of publicity from Interpol and the Thai authorities, Thai police in the northeastern province of Nakorn Ratchasima arrested the Canadian, charging him with sexual crimes against children not only in Thailand and but in several other Asian countries.

Reportedly photographing his victims, placing their pictures on the Internet, and offering them for sale gained 32-year-old Christopher Paul Neil high-profile attention around the world.

Identified as "the world's most wanted suspected paedophile," the Canadian national was apprehended in the residence of a Thai friend who had set up the suspects activities with Thai children, according to police.

Thai police arerested Mr. Neil in Nakhon Ratchasima, some 200 kilometres northeast of Bangkok, the Thai capital.

The Canadian schoolteacher lived in Thailand for about two years from 2002, according to police. An arrest warrant was issued Thursday for Mr. Neil who is thought to have had illicit sexual relations with boys in Thailand, as well as with more than ten Cambodian and Vietnamese boys, some only six years old, according to Interpol.

Three Thai boys came to Thai police claiming Mr. Neil had abused them and showed them pornography on his computer.

The teacher has reportedly taught at several schools in Thailand, South Korea and Vietnam.

--TNA 2007-10-19

[george]

PAEDOPHILE CASE

Suspect arrested in Korat

Canadian tracked down by police through his Thai partner's mobile phone records

BANGKOK: -- Just 12 hours after obtaining an arrest warrant, police yesterday arrested much-wanted Canadian paedophile suspect Christopher Paul Neil at a house in Nakhon Ratchasima province.

Neil did not resist arrest. Asked by arresting officers about his identity, he simply said "Yes".

Police said later Neil had not given any other information apart from saying "I knew this day would come" and "I need a lawyer", before being driven to Bangkok and shown to the media at the Royal Thai Police compound in the afternoon.

Officers said they were looking for two other Thai men whose pictures were found on Neil's computer. They suspect the pair may have been molested by the suspect when they were underage boys.

Neil, 32, has been charged with child molestation, restraint of a person's freedom, and depriving a child of parental care.

Deputy police chief General Wongkot Maneerin alleged that Neil had orgies with up to seven boys at a time on many occasions and sometimes had sex with girls. The nationalities of the boys included Vietnamese, Laotian, Burmese, Cambodian and Thai.

Wongkot called on other victims to come forward. He said police would get Neil to undergo a blood test for Aids, although that would depend on his cooperation.

He said the 18-year-old Thai man who came forward to the police as the first local sex victim of Neil, was actually only 14. Neil was accused of first violating the boy on October 14, 2003, at his apartment in Bangkok's Din Daeng area when the boy was nine years old.

Neil is now in custody at the Children, Juveniles and Women Division, without a lawyer representing him as of yet. The initial authority to detain him lasts 48 hours and he is expected to be taken to the Criminal Court - possibly today - for consideration about further detention.

Pol Lt-Colonel Phatthana Nutchanart, of the Tourist Police, revealed that officers had tracked Neil initially from "street information" gained in the Pattaya area in Chon Buri, where they learnt that Neil had dated a transvestite called "Oam" for two years before he last departed Thailand for South Korea.

After learning the transvestite's home province was Chaiyaphum, a police team went there but found no trace of them. Police later obtained Oam's mobile phone number and call records and found he had called a relative in Nakhon Ratchasima - where Neil and Oam were found yesterday.

The world-wide search for Neil began just 10 days ago with a ground-breaking appeal from Interpol for public help to track down a man seen in 200 photos posted on the Internet. The photos appeared to show him abusing a dozen young boys.

The man's face had been digitally swirled, but German computer experts reconstructed the images, which Interpol then posted on its website along with its call for assistance.

The operation was code-named "Vico" because the images were believed to have been taken in Vietnam and Cambodia in 2002 or 2003.

More than 300 people replied to Interpol's call, with five people on three continents offering critical information, the agency said in a statement on its website.

"The fact that we went to the public was the breakthrough," Interpol detective Mick Moran told AFP. "We are absolutely delighted this guy has been arrested."

Neil was found in a one-storey rented house in Nakhon Ratchasima, around 300 kilometres northeast of Bangkok, where he was with the Thai transvestite, police said. There were conflicting reports about Oam's age, that he was 25 or 20.

Police gave no details about Neil's relationship with his companion.

General Wongkot said Neil could face up to 20 years in prison if convicted over accusations he abused a nine-year-old boy in Bangkok four years ago.

If any other countries want to prosecute him, he could be extradited after serving any prison time received in Thailand, if found guilty here, Wongkut said.

Neil had been teaching English at a school in Seoul, where South Korean police are also investigating his activities. He flew to Bangkok on October 11, when security cameras documented his arrival at the airport.

Neil has visited Thailand six times since 2000. In 2003 he tried and failed to get a job teaching at an international school in Bangkok, according to Thai officials.

Interpol says Neil is from suburban Vancouver, where Canadian media reported that his mother and a sibling still live.

Neil once studied at a seminary, hoping to become a priest, but was eventually shunned by his teachers, who felt he lacked the moral backbone for the task, according to reports.

An official at the Bangkok school where Neil tried to get a teaching job described him as an introvert, who was not hired because he had difficulty cooperating with school officials and other teachers. The school said no complaints were filed regarding any abusive behaviour.

-- The Nation, AFP 2007-10-20

[george]

Paedophile suspect denies Thai charges

BANGKOK: -- Canadian paedophile suspect Christopher Neil has denied charges that he molested underage children in Thailand, police said on Saturday, a day after a global manhunt ended with his arrest in a dusty Thai town.

A Thai court ordered Neil, also accused of raping young boys in Vietnam and Cambodia after being unmasked by nifty police computer work and hunted in a unique Internet appeal, detained for another 12 days for further investigation.

The 32-year-old is facing charges of molesting underage children, depriving children of parental care and restraint of freedom, Police Major-General Wimol Powin said.

"He denied the charges but has not said much more," Wimol told reporters who were barred from the court hearing.

If found guilty, he could spend up to 20 years in jail.

Neil, caught on Friday in the northeast province of Nakhon Ratchasima, 250 km (150 miles) from Bangkok and well off the normal tourist trail, said nothing as he left the court wearing a red-striped t-shirt, cap and sunglasses.

Neil was no stranger to Thailand, having once taught in a Bangkok language school, but his hiding place was revealed by a trace on the mobile phone of his 25-year-old Thai boyfriend, identified by transvestites in the seedy beach town of Pattaya.

Thai police issued a warrant for Neil's arrest on Thursday, a week after he fled South Korea, after two Thai teenagers accused him of paying for oral sex when they were nine and 14, grounds for prosecution under Thai law.

Detectives in various countries had been hunting Neil since German police discovered photographs on the Internet three years ago of a man sexually abusing 12 boys in Vietnam and Cambodia.

His face had been scrambled with a digital swirling pattern, but German police computer experts managed to unravel the "Swirly Face" disguise and Interpol issued an unprecedented worldwide appeal through the Internet for information on who the man was.

EXTRADITION?

Police said Neil had contacted the Canadian embassy and phoned his relatives in Canada where Matthew Neil said he was relieved his brother was in custody.

"He looks tired," Matthew said of the pictures of his brother after the arrest. He said he "cannot imagine" what is going through his brother's mind.

"I would like to see him come back to Canada, but I understand it involves an international incident and allegations," he told reporters.

Thai police said Neil could be extradited once he had served his sentence. Cambodia said it also wanted to question Neil and would charge him if police there could put a case together.

Vietnam might also want to question him.

British Columbia Attorney General Wally Oppal disclosed on Friday that Canadian police had been investigating Neil, who had also worked in the Vancouver area as a teacher and attended seminary school.

Oppal's spokesman later said that did not mean they were investigating possible incidents in Canada.

"It's our understanding that Interpol raised issues related to Mr. Neil with (Canadian police). This does not mean there is any substantive basis to draw any conclusions regarding Mister Neil's activities within Canada," Shawn Robins said.

No charges have been filed in Canada and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police refused to comment.

It is illegal for Canadians to visit other countries for the purpose of having sex with children, but the 5-year-old "sex tourism" law has been rarely used and questions have been raised about its constitutionality.

It was too early to speculate if Canada would attempt to extradite Neil, Oppal said.

--Reuters 2007-10-20

[george]

Thais to hold pedophile suspect

BANGKOK: -- Thai investigators Saturday were given at least 12 days to hold in custody a teacher from Canada suspected of sexually abusing young boys seen in photographs posted on the Internet, a Thai police official said.

Christopher Paul Neil was taken into custody early Friday in Nakhon Ratchafima, a town about 130 miles northeast of Bangkok, where he was allegedly attempting to contact underage boys, Maj. Gen. Wimol Pao-in said.

Neil, 32, kept his head covered with a blue shirt as he was paraded in front of a throng of photographers as he arrived in Bangkok, however he was made to sit -- head uncovered -- at a news conference a short time later.

The suspect sat silently and without expression as police officials spoke about the case. Video Alleged pedophile arrested »

A police official explained that Neil did not want to speak at the news conference. Neil, with his head closely shaved but his beard apparently not shaved for several days, wore a T-shirt, jogging pants and sunglasses.

A Thai court Saturday granted investigators their request to keep Neil in jail for 12 days, something they can ask to have extended up to seven more times, while they prepare their case against him, Wimol said.

He said it would likely take a month for the Thai case to be ready for a trial.

Thai officials would consider sending Neil to another country to face charges if there is a request for extradition, he said.

Neil's arrest Friday came a week after Interpol, the international police agency, issued a worldwide alert after about 200 photographs showing a man sexually abusing 12 different young males were posted on the Internet.

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The photos, which authorities believe were taken in Vietnam and Cambodia in 2002 or 2003, had been digitally altered to disguise the man's face. But German investigators were able to reverse the process and restore the images, and his picture was then distributed worldwide.

The suspect was identified within three days after the photographs were released, based on tips from five sources on three continents, according to Interpol.

--CNN 2007-10-20

[lopburi3]

Sex suspect mum behind shades

By Matthew Chance

CNN

BANGKOK, Thailand (CNN) -- Handcuffed, his head covered with an old blue T-shirt to hide his face from the cameras, Christopher Paul Neil, a 32-year-old Canadian English teacher, was escorted through the throngs of waiting news media outside Thailand's national police headquarters.

The world's newspaper and television reporters jostled for position to catch a first glimpse of a man described by police as a predator -- a suspected pedophile accused of abusing a dozen underage Asian boys in Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia.

As the Thai police, who had arrested him just a few hours earlier in northeastern Thailand, pushed the photographers back, reporters shouted questions: Did you abuse the boys? What message do you have for your family, anxious and ashamed at home?

There were no answers. Neil kept silent throughout his exhibition to the world. Even when he was forced to sit in a police press conference -- his face now uncovered -- he chose not to speak. He just sat there, motionless, peering out at the audience and the flashbulbs through mirrored sunglasses.

His arrest was remarkably swift. He was in Thailand for just eight days before being tracked down in a manhunt that saw his image plastered on newspaper front pages and Thai television screens, accused of sex crimes.

In the end it was the publicity, police said, that led them to their man, ending the international manhunt that involved law enforcement agencies in Germany, South Korea, Vietnam, Cambodia, Canada and Thailand.Video Watch how technology unmasked suspect »

Police say they were tipped off by locals in the Thai town of Korat, about 130 miles from Bangkok, that a foreigner fitting Neil's description was living in a house there. An arrest warrant was obtained and officers moved in.

Earlier in the week, there had been searches across the country, with Thai police scouring bars and hostels Neil is known to have visited in the past. In the seedy Thai coastal resort town of Pattaya, police questioned owners of bars where underage boys, they said, could be procured for sex. At least one bar owner told them he recognized Neil's face. He had been a regular, the owner said, according to police.

Thailand seems to attract Western pedophiles in droves. At a police station in Pattaya, CNN was shown a file of 50 suspected foreign sex offenders believed to be in the Pattaya area. The officer in charge of the district said Neil was their highest priority because of the international attention surrounding him.

But he wasn't really a big fish, this officer said. He said there are many other foreign pedophiles in Pattaya who do much worse.

Why then the focus on just one man?

One reason may be the remarkable way in which Neil's identity was uncovered. For years, German police said they had been observing pictures posted on the Internet of a man abusing young Asian boys, but that his face had been electronically manipulated with a computerized swirl effect, hiding his features.

But computer experts working with German police cracked the code, finding a way to reverse the swirl, unscrambling the abuser's features and producing an identifiable image.

It was posted on the Web site of Interpol, the international police agency, and provoked an astonishing reaction. Interpol says more than 350 people contacted them with information. Within days, the mystery man with a swirling face had been identified -- passport number, date of birth, nationality -- all uncovered, sparking the manhunt.

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As the dragnet closed, Neil boarded a plane for Thailand from South Korea, and was pictured arriving on October 11, police said. That most recent image was circulated in Thailand and the arrest was soon made.

He now faces days of intense questioning about his alleged crimes. Already police say at least three underage Thai boys have stepped forward, identifying Neil as a man who paid them for sex. If found guilty in Thailand, he faces a sentence of up to 20 years

CNN

[george]

Thai police set to prosecute Canadian suspect

BANGKOK: -- Thai police are confident of having sufficient evidence to prosecute a Canadian school teacher accused of sexually abusing young Thai boys, a senior police officer said Saturday.

Canadian school teacher Christopher Paul Neil, 32, was apprehended on Friday at a home in the northeastern province of Nakhon Ratchasima of a Thai man alleged to be responsible for enabling the foreigners sexual encounters with young Thai boys.

The arrest was made following an appeal from the international police organization Interpol earlier this month for the public's help in finding him. Mr. Neil is charged with sexually abused of young boys not only in Thailand but also in several other Asian countries.

Police Maj-Gen. Wimol Pao-in, commander of the Division for Suppression of Crime Against Children, Youth and Women, said although Mr. Neil denied police charges and refused to cooperate with police, they were confident they could punish him due to having sufficient evidence.

According to Gen. Wimol, the police are now investigating how many Thai boys had fallen victim to the Canadian. He urged the victims to come forward and file charges with the police so that the suspect could be found guilty and punished..

Meanwhile, the Criminal Court on Saturday ordered that Mr. Neil be held in jail in Bangkok for at least 12 days for questioning, pending his trial on molestation charges.

Police have refused bail for Mr. Neil as they are still gathering evidence against the suspect.

--TNA 2007-10-20

[george]

Canadian suspect refuses HIV test

BANGKOK: -- Suspected Canadian pedophile Christopher Paul Neil has refused an HIV test ordered by Thai authorities as part of standard procedure for prisoners in the country, the Canadian media reported today.

"Every prisoner is asked to take an HIV test but at this point he has turned that down," CTV's Steve Chao told that network's morning show Canada AM on Monday.

Neil is currently being held at Bangkok Remand Prison. Police have kept him under suicide watch..

"According to authorities, he is facing a great deal of stress, so he's being allowed to take some medicine for a high-blood pressure condition," Chao said on CTV on Monday.

Neil, 32, met with Canadian consular officials over the weekend and received a list of possible lawyers he could use to represent him. Consular officials have also offered to communicate any requests to Neil's family in the westernmost Canadian province of British Columbia.

-- Agencies 2007-10-22

[george]

Police find another 'victim of paedophile'

BANGKOK: -- Thai police said yesterday they had found another alleged victim of suspected Canadian paedophile Christopher Neil, 32, who has been asked by police to submit to HIV tests.

Maj-General Wimol Pao-in, commander of the Division for Suppression of Crime Against Children, Youths and Women, said the alleged victim, aged 19 and living in Din Daeng, had hesitated to give testimony due to embarrassment and fear publicity would tarnish him and his family.

Police had assured the young man his testimony would be kept secret.

Wimol said he had instructed investigators to contact Interpol to get copies of the 200 images reportedly posted on the Internet by Neil, so Thai police could charge him with publishing pornographic materials.

Meanwhile, Deutsche Presse-Agentur reported that Neil had been asked by police to submit to blood tests to determine if he had HIV.

A child welfare officer involved in the case said it was "sensible" to test someone suspected of having sex with scores of vulnerable children or teenagers for sexually transmitted diseases. Neil must agree to take blood tests.

Neil was exposed when German police investigators managed to "uncoil" his digitally disguised face on an Internet porn site that also showed many of his alleged child victims.

Neil became the target of an international manhunt when his photograph was released around the world by Interpol. The move produced hundreds of tips that helped track him to an English teaching job in South Korea, and then to Thailand.

Thai police investigators told Bangkok Criminal Court on Saturday they were confident of gathering strong evidence to show Neil abused children during a spell when he worked as an English teacher in Bangkok four years ago.

Besides his alleged victims in Thailand, authorities in Vietnam and Cambodia want to question him about many images of children with him that were posted on the Internet.

Neil was arrested on Friday morning in Nakhon Ratchasima, 210 kilometres north-east of Bangkok, after he fled South Korea a week earlier - following the release of his picture by Interpol with a "red alert", its highest search signal.

He was brought to Bangkok police headquarters on Friday, presented to the press, then taken into custody on Saturday. He faces 12 days of questioning and the likelihood of a trial on molestation charges.

So far, Neil has said very little to the police, except to deny the charges. Officials say the gathering of evidence and the trial could take years to complete if Neil does not cooperate.

The CanWest News Service reported that Neil has begged his family to get him out of Thailand. He reportedly used his appearance in court on Saturday to say, via Canadian TV, "Take care ... to make sure I get out of here. That's all - help me get out."

Neil could be jailed for 20 years if found guilty of the sex charges he is accused of here.

-- The Nation 2007-10-23

[george]

Accused paedo faces 40 years

BANGKOK: -- Police filed two more charges of child abuse Wednesday against a suspected Canadian paedophile arrested last week after an international manhunt prompted by child pornography on the internet.

The latest charges against Christopher Paul Neil, 32, were based on testimony of a second Thai victim who alleged he was molested in 2003, when he was of minor age, police told the media.

"We have strong evidence," said Pol Lt Gen Wimon Pao-In, the senior officer in charge of the case.

The new charges include kidnapping and child sexual abuse. "We can bring him to justice and punish him," said Pol Lt Gen Wimon.

Neil, a native of a Vancouver suburb, was arrested last Friday in northeastern Nakhon Ratchasima after he fled South Korea, where he had been teaching English when international police agency Interpol made a global plea for his capture.

He was initially charged with sexually molesting a 9-year-old Thai boy when he was residing in the country in 2003.

German computer experts had reconstructed altered images from an Internet child pornography site, where the man had posted alleged evidence of sexual exploits with several dozen Southeast Asian boys.

The second victim told police Neil lured him to his apartment to play video games, and gave him cash to ensure his trust. On his third visit, the boy testified, Neil abused him and took photographs, the police commander said.

The charges filed thus far by Thai authorities carry combined maximum prison terms of 40 years, according to Pol Lt Gen Wimon.

Thai police identified Neil in airport security photos taken on his entry into the country on Oct 11, which they said matched the photos provided by Interpol. Neil had travelled to Pattaya, where a hotel's closed-circuit TV system taped him as he checked in with a transvestite friend.

Authorities are still seeking other possible Thai victims.

-- Bangkok Post 2007-10-24

[Totster]

Canadian suspect's lover denies involvement

A Thai transvestite who was key to the recent arrest of alleged Canadian child molester Christopher Paul Neil has denied providing victims for him.

Identifying himself only as Oam, the Chaiyaphum native said Neil once asked him: "Why would I need other boys since I have you with me?"

That comment was in response to Oam asking Neil about rumours that he had frequently paid for sex with underage boys before the two met a few years ago.

Oam said Neil even refused to allow him to undergo a sex- change operation and kept complaining about an unsuccessful cosmetic operation to make his face look more feminine until he corrected his facial structure to its previous look.

Oam said he met Neil a few years ago in a Pattaya beer bar where he moonlighted as a cross-dressing bar girl in addition to his day job as an Internet cafe clerk.

"The moment I saw his face, I knew right away that he was my soul-mate," he added.

Oam said Neil was impressed with him because he offered to let him use his camera after Neil lost his. Oam said he first had sex with Neil on Koh Chang, off the coast near Trat, a few months later when the two agreed to further their longtime relationship.

Oam said he took Neil to his home in Chaiyaphum's Chatturat district and he was well liked by locals. "Everybody likes him. He is a decent person and friendly with everyone around him, children or adults. He is welcomed by all my neighbours."

He said he and Neil were planning to open a restaurant in Pattaya and he had borrowed Bt300,000 from his mother to set it up before Neil was arrested by police on October 18 in Nakhon Ratchasima, where both were in hiding at a home owned by Oam's relatives.

It has not been decided whether Neil will be extradited to face charges of child molestation and statutory rape in other countries apart from facing prosecution in Thailand for two cases of allegedly violating underage boys four years ago.

Oam has not been charged with any criminal offence despite his apparent assistance in providing a hiding place for Neil - a felony under Thai law.

- The Nation

[lopburi3]

Christopher Paul Neil

Trial begins in Thailand for Canadian suspected in pedophile case

BANGKOK -- A Canadian man, arrested after police unravelled a digitally scrambled face from images of child abuse found on the internet, will begin his trial Monday in Thailand.

Four months after his arrest, Christopher Neil, of Maple Ridge, B.C., who pleaded not guilty, will stand trial on charges of molesting underage children in Thailand.

Neil was arrested in rural Thailand in October after a week-long manhunt.

Thai police accuse the 32-year-old of raping young boys in Vietnam and Cambodia several years ago.

Detectives in various countries had been trying to track Neil down since German police discovered photographs on the Internet three years ago of a man sexually abusing 12 boys in Vietnam and Cambodia.

The man's face had been scrambled with a digital swirling pattern, but German police computer experts managed to unravel the disguise and Interpol issued an unprecedented worldwide appeal through the Internet for information.

More than 350 people came forward with information.

If convicted, Neil could face up to 20 years in jail in Thailand.

- CanWest (Canada)

http://www.canada.com/theprovince/news/sto...563&k=93111

[sbk]

Canadian pedophile suspect Christopher Paul Neil, center, walks with Thai prison officials as he arrives at criminal court in Bangkok, Thailand Monday, March 10, 2008.

Associated Press

Interpol Pedophilia Suspect on Trial

BANGKOK, Thailand � A Canadian arrested last year in a worldwide manhunt after Interpol unscrambled his swirled digital images from Internet photos went on trial Monday in Thailand, accused of sexually abusing a 9-year-old boy.

Christopher Paul Neil, a 32-year-old schoolteacher who worked in several Asian countries, has pleaded not guilty in the case. He was arrested in Thailand on Oct. 19, 2007 after Interpol issued an unprecedented global appeal to help apprehend him.

Shackled and smiling, Neil entered Bangkok's criminal courthouse ahead of the trial in an orange prison uniform. He was barefoot and chained to another prisoner.

"I hope there will be justice in Thailand," he told reporters.

Neil is accused of sexually abusing a 9-year-old Thai boy, who contacted police after seeing Neil's face on television following his arrest. The child claims Neil paid him $15 to $30 to perform oral sex in 2003, while he was living in Thailand.

He faces up to 20 years in prison for charges that include sexually abusing a minor and videotaping the alleged abuse, taking a child without parental consent and holding him against his will.

"We've got the evidence," said prosecutor Sontus Singhapus. "He's guilty."

Prosecutors plan to introduce some 70 photographs that allegedly show Neil engaging in sexual acts and playing with young naked and partially clothed young boys, said Sontus.

Neil's opening hearing was quickly adjourned after the court assigned him an attorney and set the next session for June 2.

Interpol's public call for help was based on the discovery of some 200 Internet photos believed to show Neil sexually abusing at least a dozen Vietnamese and Cambodian boys, some as young as 6.

The photos were found online in 2004, but the face of the perpetrator was digitally obscured as a swirling shape. After three years of searching, the international police agency was able to unscramble the images with the help of German police computer experts. Interpol circulated the pictures publicly and received hundreds of tips that led them to identify Neil as the suspect.

Neil was arrested 11 days after the appeal was launched after flying into Bangkok on a one-way ticket from South Korea, where he was working as an English teacher.

Neil had taught at various schools in South Korea, Thailand and Vietnam since 2000. Previously, Neil worked as a chaplain in Canada, counseling teens.

Neil lived in Thailand from 2002 to early 2004, according to police.

Since Neil's arrest, Interpol has said it will allow wider use of public appeals to track suspected pedophiles, trying to build on the success it had tracking down the Canadian.

- Associated Press

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5j7LXFoH...Qp5e2QD8VACA700

[Maestro]

Canadian pedophile gets 3 years in Thai jail

Katie Mercer, Canwest News Service

Published: 2 hours ago

Canadian pedophile Christopher Neil was sentenced to three years and three months in prison in Thailand on Friday for kidnapping and sexually abusing a 13-year-old boy.

Neil was identified after German police discovered Internet photos showing him allegedly raping 12 boys in

Vietnam and Cambodia.

AFP/Getty Images

Continued here: http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/news...2c-d952d7e11765

--

Maestro

[Jai Dee]

Update:

Swirly paedophile found guilty of second crime in Thailand

Bangkok's Criminal Court Monday said a Canadian paedophile nabbed in Thailand last year after German police "unswirled" his altered photograph on the internet has been given an additional six years in jail. The court confirmed that Christopher Paul Neil, 33, had been sentenced to just under six years jail earlier this month for molesting a Thai boy in 2003, after claiming is innocence. He was also ordered to pay 50,000 baht compensation to the boy's family. The verdict was given in an unscheduled hearing on November 14 and not reported at the time.

In a separate case, Neil had already been found guilty of abducting and molesting a minor in 2003 when he was teaching English in Bangkok and of distributing pornography and sentenced him to three years and three months in jail.

The sentence was commuted after Neil pleaded guilty.

Neil was arrested October 19 in Thailand's Nakorn Ratchasima province, 210 kilometres north-east of Bangkok, ending an international manhunt sparked after Interpol released his picture with a red alert, its highest search signal.

Thai police dubbed Neil, a former English teacher, "a serious threat to society," saying he was suspected of having abused scores, possibly hundreds, of boys - some as young as 6 - as well as girls.

German police investigators triggered an international manhunt for Neil last year when they managed to "uncoil" his digitally altered, swirled internet photographs that showed him abusing a dozen young boys in Cambodia and Vietnam, some appearing to be well under 10.

Neil was tracked down in north-eastern Thailand after a Thai boy came forward to accuse the Canadian of paying for oral sex, allowing police to issue an arrest warrant.

Canada also has laws allowing it to punish paedophiles for their crimes in third countries.

Former colleagues have regaled reporters with their impressions of Neil as an "unassuming character" and "diligent teacher."

But writings attributed to him on social-networking websites and elsewhere show evidence of an arrogant character who offered advice about cleaning a computer of "dangerous" photographs and how to avoid character checks when applying for teaching jobs.

German police started investigating Neil's activities when they discovered three years ago that his altered picture appeared in scores of paedophilia images on the internet.

Source: DPA - 24 November 2008

[Maestro]

Swirly paedophile found guilty of second crime in Thailand

Published on November 24, 2008

Bangkok - Bangkok's Criminal Court Monday said a Canadian paedophile nabbed in Thailand last year after German police "unswirled" his altered photograph on the internet has been given an additional six years in jail.

The court confirmed that Christopher Paul Neil, 33, had been sentenced to just under six years jail earlier this month for molesting a Thai boy in 2003, after claiming is innocence. He was also ordered to pay 50,000 baht compensation to the boy's family. The verdict was given in an unscheduled hearing on November 14 and not reported at the time.

In a separate case, Neil had already been found guilty of abducting and molesting a minor in 2003 when he was teaching English in Bangkok and of distributing pornography and sentenced him to three years and three months in jail.

The sentence was commuted after Neil pleaded guilty.

Neil was arrested October 19 in Thailand's Nakorn Ratchasima province, 210 kilometres north-east of Bangkok, ending an international manhunt sparked after Interpol released his picture with a red alert, its highest search signal.

Thai police dubbed Neil, a former English teacher, "a serious threat to society," saying he was suspected of having abused scores, possibly hundreds, of boys - some as young as 6 - as well as girls.

German police investigators triggered an international manhunt for Neil last year when they managed to "uncoil" his digitally altered, swirled internet photographs that showed him abusing a dozen young boys in Cambodia and Vietnam, some appearing to be well under 10.

Neil was tracked down in north-eastern Thailand after a Thai boy came forward to accuse the Canadian of paying for oral sex, allowing police to issue an arrest warrant.

Canada also has laws allowing it to punish paedophiles for their crimes in third countries.

Former colleagues have regaled reporters with their impressions of Neil as an "unassuming character" and "diligent teacher."

But writings attributed to him on social-networking websites and elsewhere show evidence of an arrogant character who offered advice about cleaning a computer of "dangerous" photographs and how to avoid character checks when applying for teaching jobs.

German police started investigating Neil's activities when they discovered three years ago that his altered picture appeared in scores of paedophilia images on the internet.//dpa

The Nation, 2008-11-24

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