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Online abuser 'English teacher' Hunted paedophile suspect named
(about 17 hours later)
Police conducting a worldwide hunt for a man shown sexually abusing children in internet pictures believe he is a teacher of English now in Thailand. A suspected paedophile who appears in 200 internet images abusing young boys has been named by Thai police as a Canadian teaching English in Asia.
The possible identification of the man, seen in about 200 images depicting abuse, comes after Interpol released a photograph of the suspect. They said he was Christopher Paul Neil, 32. Interpol said they had indentified the suspect but did not name him.
The pictures of the man were digitally altered but police computer specialists have produced identifiable images. Interpol had appealed for public information after the suspect's digitally-swirled image in internet photos was unscrambled by experts.
Police said they may have been taken in Vietnam and Cambodia in 2002 and 2003. Interpol said the suspect had flown from South Korea to Thailand last week.
The suspected child abuser was identified by five different sources from three continents as a man teaching English at a school in South Korea, Interpol said. It has released a security camera image of the man arriving at Bangkok airport on 11 October on a flight from Seoul.
His name, nationality, date of birth, passport number, and current and previous places of work have also been established, according to the international police organisation. "He is now internationally known," said Mick Moran, the Interpol officer leading the search for the suspect.
'All other means' "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."
Interpol said that on Thursday the man flew from Seoul to Bangkok International Airport, where his image was captured by security cameras. Unprecedented appeal
It had said the man seen apparently abusing 12 boys in a number of images was a danger to children while he remained at large. The first pictures of the man were found three years ago in Germany. The pictures had been manipulated to disguise the man's face with a swirl pattern, but German computer specialists managed to produce identifiable images which were posted on Interpol's website a week ago.
The international police organisation launched its unprecedented global public appeal last week, after trying "all other means" to identify the man. UNFOLDING INVESTIGATION Dec 2004: Abuse photos, some date-stamped 2002 or 2003, found on internet8 Oct 2007: Interpol's global appeal for information9 Oct: Interpol says more than 200 responses received11 Oct: Suspect flies into Bangkok on one-way ticket
It said more than 200 people had responded to their appeal. After an appeal for information, the suspect was identified by five different sources from three continents as a man teaching English at a school in South Korea, Interpol said.
Interpol database Police then established his name, nationality, date of birth, passport number and current and previous places of work.
The first pictures of the man were found three years ago in Germany and the search for the suspect had been codenamed Operation Vico. Panaspong Sirawongse, Interpol chief in Thailand, named the suspect as Christopher Paul Neil.
The pictures had been manipulated to disguise the man's face with a swirl pattern, but computer specialists at Germany's federal police agency, the BKA, worked with Interpol's human trafficking team to produce identifiable images. He told Reuters the Canadian had worked at an international school in Thailand between 2003 and 2004.
Photographs of the suspect published on the internet show him apparently abusing 12 boys in Vietnam and Cambodia.Security cameras show the suspect at Bangkok airport last week
"Thai police are collecting evidence and information from neighbouring countries and other Interpol members to seek a court order for an arrest warrant," Thai police Colonel Apichart Suriboonya told the French news agency AFP.
Interpol maintains a database of 520,000 images of child sex abuse submitted by 36 member states.Interpol maintains a database of 520,000 images of child sex abuse submitted by 36 member states.
Using sophisticated software, investigators have identified and rescued nearly 600 victims from 31 countries.Using sophisticated software, investigators have identified and rescued nearly 600 victims from 31 countries.