Christopher Paul Neil

Neil was born in New Westminster, British Columbia, where he was raised. Christopher was later educated in Maple Ridge, British Columbia. He attended Handsworth Secondary School and graduated in 1993.{{Cite web |last=Prbh |date=June 11, 2023 |title=Mr. Swirl Case: Most Disturbed Person On Internet |url=https://medium.com/@ps488246/mr-swirl-case-most-disturbed-person-on-internet-8954bd085351 |access-date=June 22, 2023 |website=Medium |language=en}}{{better|reason=Medium is not a reliable source |date=May 2025}}

In 1998, he graduated from a seminary in Mission, British Columbia with an arts degree, but did not receive the necessary approval to enter the Catholic priesthood{{Cite web |date=October 19, 2007 |title=Suspected Canadian pedophile arrested in Thailand |url=http://www.canada.com/topics/news/national/story.html?id=5154a967-329f-454c-9fff-05d7c096babc&k=67204 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071209050810/http://www.canada.com/topics/news/national/story.html?id=5154a967-329f-454c-9fff-05d7c096babc&k=67204 |archive-date=December 9, 2007 |access-date=October 25, 2021}} due to a lack of qualifications. Following this, he chose to go into teaching instead.{{cite news |date=October 17, 2007 |title=Alleged pedophile taught at B.C. school 6 months ago |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/alleged-pedophile-taught-at-b-c-school-6-months-ago-1.657405 |work=CBC News}}

Neil served as a chaplain at military cadet camps in Nova Scotia and Saskatchewan from 1997 to 2000, where he counselled teenagers.

After serving as a chaplain, Neil moved to South Korea to teach English. He remained in South Korea for several years before moving to Thailand in 2003.

In Thailand, Neil began working as an English teacher at a private school in Bangkok. He also began traveling to Vietnam and Cambodia, where he took pornographic photographs of young boys.

Neil appeared in more than 300 photographs depicting child sexual abuse, which surfaced on the Internet and led to a worldwide manhunt known as Operation Vico. Neil's face had been obscured by applying a digital swirl filter to the photographs. An expert in Germany was able to reverse the effect of the filter, making his face clearly visible.{{cite news|url=http://tvscripts.edt.reuters.com/2007-10-08/15006313.html |title=Interpol issues rare global appeal to help find Web pedophile |work=Reuters |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071018054537/http://tvscripts.edt.reuters.com/2007-10-08/15006313.html |archive-date=October 18, 2007 }}

Several of these reconstructed pictures were posted on Interpol's website and led to more than 350 people contacting the organization, five of whom identified the man as Neil. Neil was working as an English teacher at Kwangju Foreign School in the city of Gwangju,{{cite news| url=https://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2007-10-15-1601556333_x.htm | work=USA Today | title=Suspected pedophile left tracks on Web | date=October 16, 2007 | access-date=April 30, 2010 | first1=Angela | last1=Doland | first2=John | last2=Leicester}} 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.{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSBKK21344820071019?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews|title=Thailand nabs Canadian pedophile suspect|work=Reuters|date=October 19, 2007 |access-date=September 18, 2015}} 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 in the beach town of Pattaya.{{Cite web|url=http://www.canada.com/globaltv/national/story.html?id=66748c76-f752-4d69-932e-310985073fd0&k=87868|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071206131914/http://www.canada.com/globaltv/national/story.html?id=66748c76-f752-4d69-932e-310985073fd0&k=87868|url-status=dead|title=Pedophile suspect denies Thai charges|archive-date=December 6, 2007}}

On January 11, 2008, the start of his trial was set for March 10. He pleaded not guilty.{{Cite news |date=January 11, 2008 |title="Swirly-face" pedophile suspect pleads innocent |language=en |work=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/news-thailand-paedophile-col-idCABKK8405920080111 |access-date=June 18, 2022}} 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.{{cite news| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7286815.stm | work=BBC News | title='Swirl' suspect trial adjourned | date=March 10, 2008 | access-date=April 30, 2010}} He was sentenced on August 15, 2008, to 39 months in prison and a $1,780 fine. His original sentence of six years was reduced by about half because he later admitted to the crime.{{Cite web|url=https://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080815/ts_nm/thailand_paedophile_dc|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080823182505/http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080815/ts_nm/thailand_paedophile_dc|url-status=dead|title=Thai court jails "swirly-face" Canadian pedophile|archive-date=August 23, 2008}}{{Cite web|url=http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5h_wwGwKl9m4aE-0tzJYpUkQpfGzgD92IIC880|title=Canadian sentenced in pedophile trial in Thailand}}{{Dead link|date=December 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} On November 24, 2008, his sentence was extended by six years following his conviction for molesting a second child.

After five years' imprisonment 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.{{cite web |author=Integrated Child Exploitation Team |url=http://bc.cb.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/ViewPage.action?siteNodeId=50&languageId=1&contentId=27181 |title=RCMP in BC – Christopher NEIL arrested upon his return to Canada |publisher=Bc.cb.rcmp-grc.gc.ca |date=October 1, 2012 |access-date=February 10, 2014 |archive-date=January 22, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160122022201/http://bc.cb.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/ViewPage.action?siteNodeId=50&languageId=1&contentId=27181 |url-status=dead }}{{Cite web|date=September 29, 2012|title=Sex offender arrested returning to Vancouver|url=https://bc.ctvnews.ca/sex-offender-arrested-returning-to-vancouver-1.977162|access-date=December 2, 2021|website=British Columbia|language=en}} On October 3, 2012, he was released from custody on strict conditions.{{cite news| url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/child-sex-offender-in-b-c-released-on-strict-conditions-1.1239776|title=Child sex offender in B.C. released on strict conditions|publisher=CBC News|date= October 3, 2012|access-date=February 10, 2014}} On August 2, 2013, Neil was arrested at his home for breach of recognizance. He pleaded guilty in October.{{cite web|url=http://bc.ctvnews.ca/swirl-face-pedophile-to-appear-in-richmond-court-today-1.1575794 |title='Swirl face' pedophile to appear in Richmond court today | CTV Vancouver News |publisher=Bc.ctvnews.ca |date=December 5, 2013 |access-date=February 10, 2014}} Child pornography was found on his laptop and his mobile phone.{{cite news|url=http://www.richmondreview.com/news/240903661.html |title=Child predator Neil to undergo psych assessment |date=January 17, 2014 |access-date=February 10, 2014 |publisher=Richmond Review |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140222223116/http://www.richmondreview.com/news/240903661.html |archive-date=February 22, 2014 }} His sentencing occurred on May 6, 2014, at which time he received a prison sentence of three months' plus three years of probation for breach of conditions, namely "possessing devices capable of accessing the internet".{{cite web|url=https://ca.news.yahoo.com/pedophile-breached-conditions-gets-three-months-plus-probation-235300434.html |title='Swirl Face' pedophile who breached conditions gets three months, plus probation | Yahoo News |publisher=The Canadian Press |date=May 6, 2014 |access-date=May 6, 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140508031121/https://ca.news.yahoo.com/pedophile-breached-conditions-gets-three-months-plus-probation-235300434.html |archive-date=May 8, 2014 }}{{cite web|url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/christopher-paul-neil-convicted-sex-offender-jailed-for-3-months-1.2634195|title=Christopher Paul Neil, convicted sex offender, jailed for 3 months|date=May 7, 2014|work=cbc.ca|access-date=September 18, 2015}}{{cite web|url=http://www.winnipegsun.com/2014/05/07/swirl-face-pedophile-handed-jail-time|title='Swirl face' pedophile handed jail time|work=Winnipeg Sun|access-date=September 18, 2015}} 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.{{Cite web |last=Burgmann |first=Tamsyn |date=April 10, 2014 |title=B.C. judge refuses bail for convicted pedophile facing more charges |url=https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/b-c-judge-refuses-bail-for-convicted-pedophile-facing-more-charges-1.1770766 |access-date=June 18, 2022 |website=CTV News |language=en}}

In December 2015, he was sentenced to five and a half years in prison by a British Columbia court, which was later reduced to 15 months.

He was released in March 2017 and is currently living in Vancouver with a court-ordered restriction on certain behaviours including "contact with minors in person or on the internet [...] [and] possessing or accessing any electronic device or from getting any other person to do so on his behalf."{{Cite news |date=March 27, 2017 |title='Swirl face' sexual offender in Vancouver after release |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-39411025 |access-date=June 18, 2022}}

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.{{cite web |title=Thai police expand hunt for suspected Western paedophiles |url=http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/243263/Thai_police_expand_hunt_for_suspected_Western_paedophiles |access-date=September 18, 2015 |work=digitaljournal.com}}

On May 6, 2008, Interpol launched Operation IDent, its second public appeal to identify an unknown child abuse suspect,{{cite web |title=Internet / Home – INTERPOL |url=http://www.interpol.int/Public/ICPO/PressReleases/PR2008/PR200814.asp |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080508055512/http://www.interpol.int/Public/ICPO/PressReleases/PR2008/PR200814.asp |archive-date=May 8, 2008 |access-date=September 18, 2015 |work=interpol.int}}{{cite web |title=Net ends chase |url=http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/ew/2008/05/19/stories/2008051950050200.htm |access-date=September 18, 2015 |work=The Hindu Business Line}}{{Dead link|date=September 2018|bot=InternetArchiveBot|fix-attempted=yes}} who featured in almost 100 images showing the sexual abuse of at least three boys between six and ten years old.{{cite web |title=Internet / Home – INTERPOL |url=http://www.interpol.int/Public/ICPO/PressReleases/PR2008/PR200815.asp |url-status=dead |archive-url=http://arquivo.pt/wayback/20090704210131/http://www.interpol.int/Public/ICPO/PressReleases/PR2008/PR200815.asp |archive-date=July 4, 2009 |access-date=September 18, 2015 |work=interpol.int}} Unlike Neil's case, there had been no apparent attempt to obscure the perpetrator's face in these images.{{cite news |last1=Porter |first1=David |year=2008 |title=Best Santa ever' arrested in N.J. on child sex charges |url=http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5ihdJN2nIYzrjz1j1Du098W-BCe9gD90I19S80 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080512170135/http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5ihdJN2nIYzrjz1j1Du098W-BCe9gD90I19S80 |archive-date=May 12, 2008 |agency=Associated Press}}

After authorities received more than 250 leads,[http://www.amw.com/fugitives/capture.cfm?id=55449 AMW.com | Wayne Corliss – Fugitive] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110522052242/http://www.amw.com/fugitives/capture.cfm?id=55449|date=May 22, 2011}}{{cite web |title=Internet / Home – INTERPOL |url=http://www.interpol.int/Public/News/2008/Ident200805/Ident20080507.asp |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080510083658/http://www.interpol.int/Public/News/2008/Ident200805/Ident20080507.asp |archive-date=May 10, 2008 |access-date=September 18, 2015 |work=interpol.int}} Wayne Nelson Corliss was arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in New Jersey and charged with producing child pornography. He admitted to raping three boys, and was denied bail.

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Category:1975 births

Category:Living people

Category:Canadian people convicted of child sexual abuse

Category:Canadian people convicted of child pornography offenses

Category:Canadian people imprisoned abroad

Category:Canadian schoolteachers

Category:People from New Westminster

Category:Violence against men in Asia

Category:Rape of males

Category:Foreign nationals imprisoned in Thailand