Three-year global chase ends in suspected child abuser's arrest

BANGKOK, Thailand - A three-year global manhunt for a Canadian teacher suspected of sexually abusing Asian boys ended yesterday when police raided a house in northeastern Thailand and arrested Christopher Paul Neil.

Police tracked Neil to the house in Nakhon Ratchasima province that he shared with a Thai friend whose phone calls were traced by authorities.

Neil, who surrendered peacefully, was found through high-tech police work that relied on digitally unscrambled photos and tips from the public after an unprecedented worldwide appeal via the Internet.

"I think he knew we were coming," said Col. Paisal Luesomboon, who was on the police team that made the arrest. "He knew that there was an arrest warrant issued and that his face was posted everywhere."

He said Neil, 32, acknowledged being the man they were seeking but did not say whether he was the person depicted in about 200 Internet photos having sex with a dozen boys between ages 6 and 12.

It was the first time Interpol had gone to the public in search of a suspect, and "what functioned perfectly was the police-media-public link," said Interpol's police services chief, Jean-Michel Louboutin.

Only 10 days earlier, Interpol issued the appeal to identify the man whose face had been digitally obscured by swirling part of the original photos. After German police computer experts were able to reverse the process, making the face recognizable, photos of the man were publicly circulated, and hundreds of people responded.

Neil was driven to Bangkok, where officers led him in handcuffs and with a blue shirt draped over his head into police headquarters.

He remained silent when presented to journalists at a news conference, where the shirt was removed from his head, but his eyes remained hidden behind sunglasses.

Neil was charged with detention of a child under 15 without parental consent, punishable by up to three years in prison; taking a child under 15 from his parents without consent, punishable by five to 20 years; and sexual abuse of a child under 15, punishable by up to 10 years.

The charges are based on the alleged abuse of a 9-year-old in Bangkok in 2003, but police say at least three other boys are believed to have been abused. Interpol called on his alleged victims to come forward.

Thai authorities have first right on prosecuting Neil, but British Columbia will probably ask for his extradition.

On Thursday night, police traced a call made on a cell phone by a 25-year-old Thai man with whom Neil was previously known to be in touch.

They found the man in Chaiyaphum province. He told police he and Neil had rented a house in neighboring Nakhon Ratchasima province, and he led the police there yesterday.