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Suspected pedophile's family urges him to surrender
16/10/2007 11:13:45 PM
The family of a suspected Canadian pedophile who is the subject of a global manhunt is urging him to turn himself into police
Christopher Paul Neil is seen in this image made available by Interpol, the world's largest international police organization.
Police in Southeast Asia say the man whose image was splashed across media reports around the world last week is now believed to be in Thailand.
Thai and Cambodian police allege the suspect in the case is a British Columbia man, 32-year-old Christopher Paul Neil, who recently worked as an ESL teacher in Korea. Neil's MySpace profile lists his hometown as Maple Ridge, B.C."I would like to say: Chris -- turn yourself in, get back into Canada. This is where you should be to answer these allegations," Neil's younger brother Matthew told reporters in Maple Ridge, B.C. on Tuesday.
Matthew Neil says the family has had no contact with Neil since he left for South Korea in August.
"Since learning of the allegations, we are absolutely devastated. The range of emotions is from anger, shock, devastation," he said.
He says the family first found out about the allegations last Thursday when RCMP officers contacted them to identify photos.
Last week, Interpol released images of the alleged child molester, which were taken from Internet pictures that had masked the suspect behind a digitally created swirl.
Interpol investigators were able to use new technology to alter the image to allegedly resemble the original images, which they then released to the international media.
On Monday, after receiving hundreds of tips, Interpol announced it had identified the suspect but did not release his name. However, Thai and Cambodian police revealed the man's name, age and nationality Tuesday.
"The name was given to us from the Korean police. We provided them with some basic information and they were able to help us with that," Interpol crime intelligence officer Anders Persson told CTV Newsnet from Lyon, France on Tuesday.
Suspect traced to Thailand
Investigators believe Neil is in Bangkok, possibly hiding out in a hotel."We know that he arrived in Bangkok and we have camera footage which you have seen of him coming in at Bangkok airport, but at that point the trail has gone cold," Interpol's Mick Moran told CTV's Canada AM on Tuesday.
Moran said Neil was most recently working as a teacher in South Korea but had also taught in Thailand and Vietnam over the past five years.
Fellow ESL teachers and expatriates in South Korea said he worked as a teacher at Kwangju Foreign School in South Korea.
The school's website Tuesday morning listed Neil as a Grade 7-8 history teacher, with a degree from The Seminary of Christ the King, in Mission, B.C.
His name has since been removed from the school's website.
Archdiocese of Vancouver spokesperson Paul Schratz confirmed that Neil studied at the seminar.
"He apparently left at some point when he was not invited to continue his studies for the priesthood," Schratz told CTV British Columbia.
The school's rector is quoted as saying Neil did not have the qualifications to be recommended for the priesthood.
Neil then shifted his focus to teaching and began volunteering at St. Patrick's Catholic parish six years ago.
"He at some point did some volunteer catechism instruction in the parish -- so he would be working with students, preparing them for the preparation of the sacraments, their religious education, that sort of thing," Schratz added.
B.C.'s College of Teachers says that Neil never worked in the public school system. But the Archdiocese learned that Neil taught briefly at the Archbishop Carney Regional Secondary School in Port Coquitlam last spring.
"I understand from the school board that he taught there as a substitute teacher for five days," Schratz said.
Matthew Neil believes his brother's intention was to gain more experience in Asia before returning to Canada where he hoped to work as a high school teacher.
A military spokeswoman also told The Associated Press that Neil worked as a chaplain from 1998 to 2000 at an air cadet summer training centre in Nova Scotia and that his duties included spiritually advising children ages 12 to 18. No complaints were brought to commanding officers about Neil at the time.
Police allege the suspect has been going around the world preying on young boys and taking pictures of his encounters.
They allege he would then post the images on the Internet after digitally altering his face. Police have about 200 photos of a man with a dozen boys posted on the Internet in 2004, but likely taken in 2002 and 2003.
Interpol believes the photos were taken in Cambodia and Vietnam.
Tracks on web
Fellow ESL teachers told AP that Neil made frequent postings to a popular online forum called Dave's ESL Café under the pseudonym "Peter Jackson."More than 300 postings under the name Peter Jackson were erased shortly before his disappearance, the Associated Press reported.
A lead investigator working on the case told AP that authorities strongly suspect the postings were made by Neil and have alerted police in Southeast Asia that Neil may try to use the name as an alias.
Last week, Interpol unscrambled images of the suspect -- who had used standard Adobe Photoshop software to create a swirl over his face -- and released them to media outlets worldwide.
"When this went public last week it is our understanding that he didn't turn up for work then and he immediately bought a one way ticket, full-fare paid, to Bangkok from Korea," said Moran.
Moran said authorities in Cambodia, Vietnam and Thailand have all been alerted to look out for Neil.
"We'd like to appeal to him to come in and give himself up if he's in a position to do so," said Moran.
At first, Interpol sent the photos of the man to police around the world, but when that failed, police said they had no other choice but to release the photos to the media.
The Toronto police child exploitation unit -- an elite body that hunts suspected pedophiles internationally -- says Neil will be extradited to Canada and prosecuted here once he's arrested.
Kim Scanlan, of the sex crimes unit says "the paperwork has been put place for that to happen.''
RCMP investigation
Cpl. Lana Prosper from the RCMP's National Child Exploitation Centre told CTV Newsnet on Tuesday that the RCMP has been trying to identify the suspect since 2004, but will not travel to Asia to assist in the investigation. "At this point we're still actively investigating within Canada but we're in contact daily with Asian authorities, as well as, Interpol," Prosper said.
Prosper said no evidence of children being exploited in Canada has come to the RCMP's attention. The RCMP's next move will be to continue gathering evidence from its international partners.
"The hope is that we will not only be able to identify the suspect within what we can do here in Canada, but also that we can identify some of the children involved," Prosper said.
A Canadian Embassy spokesman declined comment Tuesday. Interpol is asking anyone who may have information about Neil to contact local police. They also asked the public not to take direct action.
With files from The Canadian Press and The Associated Press
I hope they catch this creep!
Suspected pedophile's family urges him to surrender
16/10/2007 11:13:45 PM
The family of a suspected Canadian pedophile who is the subject of a global manhunt is urging him to turn himself into police
Christopher Paul Neil is seen in this image made available by Interpol, the world's largest international police organization.
Police in Southeast Asia say the man whose image was splashed across media reports around the world last week is now believed to be in Thailand.
Thai and Cambodian police allege the suspect in the case is a British Columbia man, 32-year-old Christopher Paul Neil, who recently worked as an ESL teacher in Korea. Neil's MySpace profile lists his hometown as Maple Ridge, B.C."I would like to say: Chris -- turn yourself in, get back into Canada. This is where you should be to answer these allegations," Neil's younger brother Matthew told reporters in Maple Ridge, B.C. on Tuesday.
Matthew Neil says the family has had no contact with Neil since he left for South Korea in August.
"Since learning of the allegations, we are absolutely devastated. The range of emotions is from anger, shock, devastation," he said.
He says the family first found out about the allegations last Thursday when RCMP officers contacted them to identify photos.
Last week, Interpol released images of the alleged child molester, which were taken from Internet pictures that had masked the suspect behind a digitally created swirl.
Interpol investigators were able to use new technology to alter the image to allegedly resemble the original images, which they then released to the international media.
On Monday, after receiving hundreds of tips, Interpol announced it had identified the suspect but did not release his name. However, Thai and Cambodian police revealed the man's name, age and nationality Tuesday.
"The name was given to us from the Korean police. We provided them with some basic information and they were able to help us with that," Interpol crime intelligence officer Anders Persson told CTV Newsnet from Lyon, France on Tuesday.
Suspect traced to Thailand
Investigators believe Neil is in Bangkok, possibly hiding out in a hotel."We know that he arrived in Bangkok and we have camera footage which you have seen of him coming in at Bangkok airport, but at that point the trail has gone cold," Interpol's Mick Moran told CTV's Canada AM on Tuesday.
Moran said Neil was most recently working as a teacher in South Korea but had also taught in Thailand and Vietnam over the past five years.
Fellow ESL teachers and expatriates in South Korea said he worked as a teacher at Kwangju Foreign School in South Korea.
The school's website Tuesday morning listed Neil as a Grade 7-8 history teacher, with a degree from The Seminary of Christ the King, in Mission, B.C.
His name has since been removed from the school's website.
Archdiocese of Vancouver spokesperson Paul Schratz confirmed that Neil studied at the seminar.
"He apparently left at some point when he was not invited to continue his studies for the priesthood," Schratz told CTV British Columbia.
The school's rector is quoted as saying Neil did not have the qualifications to be recommended for the priesthood.
Neil then shifted his focus to teaching and began volunteering at St. Patrick's Catholic parish six years ago.
"He at some point did some volunteer catechism instruction in the parish -- so he would be working with students, preparing them for the preparation of the sacraments, their religious education, that sort of thing," Schratz added.
B.C.'s College of Teachers says that Neil never worked in the public school system. But the Archdiocese learned that Neil taught briefly at the Archbishop Carney Regional Secondary School in Port Coquitlam last spring.
"I understand from the school board that he taught there as a substitute teacher for five days," Schratz said.
Matthew Neil believes his brother's intention was to gain more experience in Asia before returning to Canada where he hoped to work as a high school teacher.
A military spokeswoman also told The Associated Press that Neil worked as a chaplain from 1998 to 2000 at an air cadet summer training centre in Nova Scotia and that his duties included spiritually advising children ages 12 to 18. No complaints were brought to commanding officers about Neil at the time.
Police allege the suspect has been going around the world preying on young boys and taking pictures of his encounters.
They allege he would then post the images on the Internet after digitally altering his face. Police have about 200 photos of a man with a dozen boys posted on the Internet in 2004, but likely taken in 2002 and 2003.
Interpol believes the photos were taken in Cambodia and Vietnam.
Tracks on web
Fellow ESL teachers told AP that Neil made frequent postings to a popular online forum called Dave's ESL Café under the pseudonym "Peter Jackson."More than 300 postings under the name Peter Jackson were erased shortly before his disappearance, the Associated Press reported.
A lead investigator working on the case told AP that authorities strongly suspect the postings were made by Neil and have alerted police in Southeast Asia that Neil may try to use the name as an alias.
Last week, Interpol unscrambled images of the suspect -- who had used standard Adobe Photoshop software to create a swirl over his face -- and released them to media outlets worldwide.
"When this went public last week it is our understanding that he didn't turn up for work then and he immediately bought a one way ticket, full-fare paid, to Bangkok from Korea," said Moran.
Moran said authorities in Cambodia, Vietnam and Thailand have all been alerted to look out for Neil.
"We'd like to appeal to him to come in and give himself up if he's in a position to do so," said Moran.
At first, Interpol sent the photos of the man to police around the world, but when that failed, police said they had no other choice but to release the photos to the media.
The Toronto police child exploitation unit -- an elite body that hunts suspected pedophiles internationally -- says Neil will be extradited to Canada and prosecuted here once he's arrested.
Kim Scanlan, of the sex crimes unit says "the paperwork has been put place for that to happen.''
RCMP investigation
Cpl. Lana Prosper from the RCMP's National Child Exploitation Centre told CTV Newsnet on Tuesday that the RCMP has been trying to identify the suspect since 2004, but will not travel to Asia to assist in the investigation. "At this point we're still actively investigating within Canada but we're in contact daily with Asian authorities, as well as, Interpol," Prosper said.
Prosper said no evidence of children being exploited in Canada has come to the RCMP's attention. The RCMP's next move will be to continue gathering evidence from its international partners.
"The hope is that we will not only be able to identify the suspect within what we can do here in Canada, but also that we can identify some of the children involved," Prosper said.
A Canadian Embassy spokesman declined comment Tuesday. Interpol is asking anyone who may have information about Neil to contact local police. They also asked the public not to take direct action.
With files from The Canadian Press and The Associated Press
I hope they catch this creep!
