Christopher Paul Neil

Christopher Paul Neil
The swirled image of Neil, which led to his nickname, and the manipulated version of it from the Interpol campaign.
Born	(1975-02-06) February 6, 1975 New Westminster, British Columbia, Canada
Status	In custody, pending trial
Other names	Mr. Swirl, Swirl Face, Vico
Occupation	School Teacher
Known for	Sexually abusing children

Christopher Paul Neil (born February 6, 1975),^[1] also known as Mr. Swirl,^[2] Swirl Face,^[3] or Vico (nicknamed after the Interpol operation concerning him),^[4] is a convicted child molester.^[5] He was the subject of a well-publicized Interpol investigation of the sexual abuse of at least 12 young boys in Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand, primarily owing to the worldwide broadcast of pornographic images depicting the abuse. He was arrested by Thai police in October 2007.^[6]

Life

Neil was born in New Westminster, British Columbia, Canada, and raised and educated in Maple Ridge, British Columbia. There he taught and studied to become a Catholic priest.^[7] The Seminary of Christ the King in Mission, British Columbia did not permit Neil to become a priest, and he chose to go into teaching instead.^[8]

Interpol search and capture

Neil appeared in over 200 photographs depicting the abuse, which surfaced on the Internet and led to a worldwide manhunt known as Operation Vico. Neil's face was obscured by a digital swirl in the photographs, but German computer experts at the Federal Criminal Police Office were able to reconstruct the original picture using techniques similar to Neil, but in reverse.^[9]

Several of these reconstructed pictures were posted on Interpol's website and led to over 350 people contacting the organization, five of whom identified the man as Neil. Neil was working as an English teacher in the city of Gwangju,^[10] South Korea, at the time but fled (with a one-way ticket) to Thailand once he was publicly identified. He was arrested in the Nakhon Ratchasima Province, in the Isan region of northeast Thailand, on October 19, 2007.^[11] Thai police reportedly located the fugitive by means of a trace on the mobile phone of his 25-year-old Thai partner, who was himself identified by transvestites in the beach town of Pattaya.^[12] While Neil was teaching in Thailand, he allegedly employed the services of a Thai to bring young boys from internet cafes to his apartment to perform sexual services. As Neil arrived at the Royal Thai National Police Headquarters he was met by around 300 journalists, which resulted in a stampede.

On January 11, 2008, the start of his trial was set for March 10. He pled not guilty.^[13] On March 10 it was found that Neil did not have a lawyer. One was assigned to him and the trial was adjourned to June 2.^[14] He was sentenced on August 15, 2008 to 39 months in prison and $1,780 fine. His original sentence of 6 years was reduced by about half because he admitted to the crime.^[15][16] On November 24, 2008, his sentence was extended by six years following his conviction for molesting a second child.^[5]

Extended search for others

Thai police expanded the hunt for potential child sex offenders by publishing photographs of 50 Western suspects identified by international authorities, many of whom are German citizens. Other nationalities include British, Australian, Italian, Finnish and American.^[17] On May 6, 2008, Interpol launched Operation IDent, its second public appeal to identify an unknown child abuse suspect,^[18][19] who featured in almost 100 images showing the sexual abuse of at least three boys between six and ten years old.^[20] After authorities received more than 250 leads,^[21][22] Wayne Nelson Corliss was arrested by ICE agents in New Jersey^[20] and charged with producing child pornography, admitted sex with three boys, and was denied bail.^[23] In November 2009, he was sentenced to 19 and a half years in prison.

Return to Canada

After five years' incarceration in Thailand, on September 29, 2012, Neil returned to Canada, whereupon he was immediately arrested at Vancouver International Airport under a Criminal Code 810.1 warrant.^[24] On October 3, 2012, he was released from custody on strict conditions.^[25] On August 2, 2013, Neil was arrested at his home for breach of recognizance. He pleaded guilty in October.^[26] Child pornography was found on his laptop and his cell phone.^[27] His sentencing occurred on May 6, 2014, at which time he received three months' jail time plus three years of probation for breach of conditions, namely "possessing devices capable of accessing the internet".^[28][29][30] Neil was already in custody, having been denied bail on April 10, 2014, pending a criminal trial stemming from additional child sex abuse offences he is alleged to have committed in Cambodia.^[31]

References