Suspected pedophile worked as counsellor, chaplain in Greenwood

[MarZutra]

Suspected pedophile worked as counsellor, chaplain in Greenwood
By The Associated Press
Wed. Oct 17 - 4:47 AM


Military officials say there were no complaints against Christopher Paul Neil, 32, during his tenure in Greenwood. (Interpol)

A suspected pedophile, the subject of a global Interpol manhunt, once worked as a chaplain and counsellor at an air cadet training centre in Greenwood, with duties that included teaching a moral issues class.

Christopher Paul Neil, a 32-year-old teacher from British Columbia, became the subject of an international manhunt after Interpol identified him as a man whose digitally blurred image appeared in hundreds of Internet photos showing sexual abuse of boys.

The international police organization said Tuesday that Neil flew from South Korea — where he taught — into Bangkok last Thursday on a one-way ticket and was still at large.

Matthew Neil, 30, the suspect’s younger brother, said from Maple Ridge, B.C., that the family found out about the accusations last week after the RCMP contacted them to identify photos.

"My mother is devastated and the family is in shock," he said.

"We’re co-operating with RCMP and Interpol. We’re hoping this comes to a quick close."

Matthew Neil said the family has had no contact with his brother since he left for South Korea in August.

A Canadian military official said that before becoming an English teacher in Asia, Christopher Neil worked as a chaplain and counsellor at the Greenwood Air Cadet Summer Training Centre.

Neil’s duties would include spiritual advising and teaching a moral issues class, said Capt. Hope Carr, a public affairs officer for the Canadian military.

Neil worked advising kids ages 12 to 18 from 1998 to 2000.

"If young people were very homesick and having trouble coping away from home at a camp, he would be there to counsel," Carr said.

There were no complaints about Neil brought to the commanding officers of the summer training centres during that time, Carr said, adding that she had spoken with the officers.

Canadian and other foreign expatriates living in South Korea suggest in an online forum for teachers that Neil has been teaching until recently at the Kwangju Foreign School.

The school’s website Tuesday morning listed Neil as a Grade 7-8 history and social studies teacher, with a degree from The Seminary of Christ the King, in Mission, B.C., but his name was removed from the website shortly after.

Anne Kully, principal of Saint Patrick’s School in Maple Ridge, B.C., said in 2000 and 2001 Neil volunteered at the school as part of his training at Christ "the King seminary, where he was studying to become a priest.

He also applied for a teaching position at the school, which teaches kindergarten through Grade 7, Kully said.

Neil’s arrival at Bangkok’s international airport Thursday was caught on camera at the immigration centre.

Authorities said the man was shown in some 200 Internet photos abusing young boys in Vietnam and Cambodia. His face, however, was masked by a digitalized blur. German police said they recreated an image of him, and four reconstructed photos were released to the public.

The international police organization issued an unusual global appeal for help in identifying and tracing the suspect on Oct. 8.

On Monday, after receiving hundreds of tips, Interpol announced it had identified the suspect. Thai and Cambodian police revealed the man’s name, age and nationality Tuesday.

The Interpol operation to find the suspected pedophile, codenamed Operation Vico, marks the first time the organization has issued a direct, worldwide request for information from the public.

Amy Bowler, a Canadian teacher who socialized with Neil when he lived in the South Korean city of Yongin, said she contacted Interpol after seeing the photos, as did two acquaintances.

Neil often went out with her circle of expatriates, and he loved to sing karaoke, she said.

"He had a number of close friends. He came out regularly for drinks. He was certainly not a pariah," Bowler said in a telephone interview.

Before the manhunt began, more than 300 messages under the name Peter Jackson were posted on a forum for English teachers called Dave’s ESL Cafe.

A lead officer working the case said investigators strongly suspect that postings by Jackson were Neil’s, and have told police in Southeast Asia about the possible pseudonym.

The posts are a window into the mind of a man who comes off as dedicated to teaching, well-travelled and well-spoken — but with a sophomoric sense of humour. Sex is a recurring theme but there are no references to an attraction to children.

Jackson complained about condoms in South Korea, talked about a nurse who bathed him in a Thai hospital and described rebuffing a man who hit on him in a sauna. He discussed how to delay or skirt police background checks needed for some teaching jobs.

Kim Scanlan of the Toronto police child exploitation unit said Neil could be extradited to Canada if arrested.

Scanlan said the unit has been trying to learn his identity and where the abuse was taking place for the last couple of years. Police learned he was Canadian after releasing his photo.