Interpol use internet to track down suspect
At least one 18-year-old boy has said that the suspect, 32-year-old Christopher Paul Neil, sexually abused him two years ago, police Colonel Apichart Suriboonya.
Police were still questioning the boy, who indicated that other boys may also have been abused, Apichart told AFP. A court was expected to issue an arrest warrant for Neil before the end of the week, he added.
“If he has committed crimes here, of course we will question all the victims to collect evidence and information,” he said.
Interpol identified Neil after launching a global appeal to name the man seen in about 200 photos circulating on the Internet, in which he is shown assaulting 12 different boys.
The pictures appeared to have been taken in Vietnam and Cambodia, countries with reputations as destinations for sex tourism.
Although his face had been digitally altered to mask his identity, a special crimes unit in Germany was able to reconstruct the image, giving authorities their first clue to track down the suspect.
Neil had been teaching English at a school in Seoul, where South Korean police are also investigating his activities.
He flew to Bangkok on October 11, when security cameras documented his arrival at the airport.
Neil had visited Thailand six times since 2000, immigration police Colonel Thaweesak Phalasak said.
During one trip in 2003, he applied for a teaching job at a private international school in Bangkok, but he did not pass his probation period, said the school's assistant chairman Poramit Srikureja.
Poramit described Neil as an introvert, who applied to teach English to ninth grade students, who would be about 14 years old.
Neil left after about four months when the school decided not to hire him because he had difficulty co-operating with school officials and other teachers, Poramit said.
“But there were no complaints from teachers, parents or students when he was here about any abusive behaviour," Poramit said.
Canadian media said Neil was from suburban Vancouver, where his mother and a sibling still live.
Neil once studied at a seminary, hoping to become a priest, but was eventually shunned by his teachers who felt he lacked the moral backbone for the task, according to reports.
The Interpol detective leading the manhunt, Mick Moran, said authorities were able to track him down thanks to a groundbreaking global appeal by Interpol, which is based in Lyon, France.
Some 350 people reportedly responded to a request for assistance on its website, where the agency posted the reconstructed picture of the suspect.
The agency said key information came from five different sources on three continents.
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