was he a member of sn
Posted: Fri Oct 19, 2007 11:36 pm
Thais arrest Canadian child-sex suspect By AMBIKA AHUJA, Associated Press Writer
5 minutes ago
BANGKOK, Thailand - A three-year global manhunt for a Canadian schoolteacher suspected of sexually abusing Asian boys ended Friday when police raided a house in northeastern Thailand — off the usual tourist trail — and arrested Christopher Paul Neil.
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Police tracked Neil to the house in Nakhon Ratchasima province that he shared with a Thai transvestite friend whose phone calls were traced by authorities.
Neil, who surrendered peacefully, was found though 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 police Col. Paisal Luesomboon, who was on the five-member 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 didn't comment on whether he was the person depicted in about 200 Internet photos having sex with a dozen different boys between the ages of 6 and 12.
Only 10 days earlier, Interpol had 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, some photos of the man were publicly circulated, and hundreds of people responded with tips on his identity, leading to Neil's arrest.
"Let all international criminals and fugitives be put on notice that Interpol, its police partners in 186 member countries, the public and the Internet present new and powerful possibilities for hunting them down wherever they might try to hide," Interpol Secretary General Ronald K. Noble said in a statement issued in France, where the international police agency is based.
After his arrest, Neil was driven to Bangkok, where — in handcuffs and with a blue shirt draped over his head — officers led him into national police headquarters. He made no comments to waiting reporters.
He remained silent and unsmiling when he was presented to journalists at a news conference, where the shirt was removed from his head but his eyes remained hidden behind sunglasses.
"He wants to exercise his rights not to speak until he gets legal advice," said Maj. Gen. Wongkot Maneerin, deputy national police chief.
Neil was charged Friday 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.
A judge in the Bangkok Criminal Court signed a police order Saturday to extend his detention to 12 days, and could move later to keep him behind bars up to 84 days. After the brief hearing, Neil was incarcerated at the Bangkok Remand Prison.
Neil arrived in court wearing a red-striped T-shirt, baseball cap and sunglasses. Looking haggard, he said "no comment" when reporters asked him if he had anything to say to his family.
"He was stressed out and could not sleep very well," said police Maj. Gen. Wimol Pao-in, chief of division's crimes against women and children. "I asked my subordinates to take care of him and give him foods and drinks so he feels better."
Wimol also said the investigation into the allegations could take a month and that a trial could start soon after.
The charges are based on the alleged abuse of a 9-year-old boy in Bangkok in 2003, but police say at least three other boys are believed to have had sex with him, and more charges may be filed.
Interpol called on his alleged victims to come forward.
"The investigation must now
MIcheal italy??
Mad mac??
5 minutes ago
BANGKOK, Thailand - A three-year global manhunt for a Canadian schoolteacher suspected of sexually abusing Asian boys ended Friday when police raided a house in northeastern Thailand — off the usual tourist trail — and arrested Christopher Paul Neil.
ADVERTISEMENT
Police tracked Neil to the house in Nakhon Ratchasima province that he shared with a Thai transvestite friend whose phone calls were traced by authorities.
Neil, who surrendered peacefully, was found though 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 police Col. Paisal Luesomboon, who was on the five-member 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 didn't comment on whether he was the person depicted in about 200 Internet photos having sex with a dozen different boys between the ages of 6 and 12.
Only 10 days earlier, Interpol had 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, some photos of the man were publicly circulated, and hundreds of people responded with tips on his identity, leading to Neil's arrest.
"Let all international criminals and fugitives be put on notice that Interpol, its police partners in 186 member countries, the public and the Internet present new and powerful possibilities for hunting them down wherever they might try to hide," Interpol Secretary General Ronald K. Noble said in a statement issued in France, where the international police agency is based.
After his arrest, Neil was driven to Bangkok, where — in handcuffs and with a blue shirt draped over his head — officers led him into national police headquarters. He made no comments to waiting reporters.
He remained silent and unsmiling when he was presented to journalists at a news conference, where the shirt was removed from his head but his eyes remained hidden behind sunglasses.
"He wants to exercise his rights not to speak until he gets legal advice," said Maj. Gen. Wongkot Maneerin, deputy national police chief.
Neil was charged Friday 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.
A judge in the Bangkok Criminal Court signed a police order Saturday to extend his detention to 12 days, and could move later to keep him behind bars up to 84 days. After the brief hearing, Neil was incarcerated at the Bangkok Remand Prison.
Neil arrived in court wearing a red-striped T-shirt, baseball cap and sunglasses. Looking haggard, he said "no comment" when reporters asked him if he had anything to say to his family.
"He was stressed out and could not sleep very well," said police Maj. Gen. Wimol Pao-in, chief of division's crimes against women and children. "I asked my subordinates to take care of him and give him foods and drinks so he feels better."
Wimol also said the investigation into the allegations could take a month and that a trial could start soon after.
The charges are based on the alleged abuse of a 9-year-old boy in Bangkok in 2003, but police say at least three other boys are believed to have had sex with him, and more charges may be filed.
Interpol called on his alleged victims to come forward.
"The investigation must now
MIcheal italy??
Mad mac??
