OPERATION VICO : Manhunt on for Canadian
Police scour local tourist resorts for 32-year-old wanted by Interpol over sexual abuse of Asian boys
Police are hunting for a Canadian who is on the Interpol wanted list for sexually abusing at least 12 under-age boys.
The suspect has been identified as Christopher Paul Neil, aged 32.
Thai Interpol Police Superintendent Colonel Apichart Suriboonya confirmed Neil had entered Thailand on a tourist visa last Thursday after leaving Seoul, South Korea, where he taught English.
His arrival at Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi Airport last Thursday was caught on camera at the immigration counter.
"We are focusing on tourists resort areas like Pattaya and Phuket, where it is easy to approach children. This is where children become victims," Apichart said.
On October 8, Interpol head office in France made a public appeal to help find Neil after an investigation of about 200 photographs posted on the Internet showed the suspect sexually abusing under-age boys.
His face was digitally altered to mask his identity, but specialists from the German police bureau Bundeskriminalamt - working with Interpol's Trafficking in Human Beings unit - were able to produce an identifiable picture.
"For years images of this man sexually abusing children have been circulating on the Internet," Interpol secretary-general Ronald K Noble said.
"We have tried all other means to identify and to bring him to justice. But we are now convinced that without the public's help, this sexual predator could continue to rape and sexually abuse young children, whose ages appear to range from six to early teens," he said when launching the public appeal last week.
Since the appeal, Interpol has received hundreds of tips about Neil.
The man pictured sexually abusing 12 different young boys in Vietnam and Cambodia in a series of about 200 images could otherwise not be identified, Interpol said.
Anyone with information on the man's current whereabouts is asked to contact their local police or Interpol via its website: www.interpol.int
Apichart said he was preparing information obtained from overseas to secure court approval of an arrest warrant for Neil.
Pol Maj-General Wissanu Prasartthong-osoth, commander of the Royal Thai Police's Foreign Affairs Division, said his unit already informed all immigration points across the country to look out for Neil.
"We are not sure whether he is HIV-positive. We have to nail him down," he said.
Pol Maj-General Wimol Powintara, who heads the Children, Juveniles and Women Division of the Royal Thai Police, said his unit was trying to determine whether Neil had also abused Thai children.
The Interpol case officer, who is here to coordinate the manhunt, yesterday urged Neil to turn himself in to authorities.
"He is now internationally known. Really, there is no place for him to hide," Mick Moran said.
"We are confident that we can track him down. Interpol's network is very large. I have no doubt that we will find him maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but definitely we will find him."
He appealed to the suspect to surrender "to have the matter sorted out in a reasonable and adult manner".
Souce: The Nation, 17. Oct, 2007
Another report, including picture: http://nationmultimedia.com/2007/10/17/ ... 052791.php
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