Monday, April 07, 2014

Christopher Paul Neil faces new charges in Canada

After returning to Canada upon serving five years in a Thai prison, being detained by police, being released with restrictions, and then pleading guilty to breaching those conditions in October of last year, Christopher Paul Neil was arrested in British Columbia on March 28:
Authorities in British Columbia have laid 10 new charges against convicted sex offender Christopher Paul Neil after conducting investigations into his activities over the past 10 years in Vancouver, Maple Ridge and Cambodia.[...]

Neil faces one count each of production of child porn and possession of child pornography relating to incidents that allegedly occurred in 2007 in Maple Ridge.

He also faces two counts of sexual touching and two counts of invitation to sexual touching stemming from alleged incidents in 2003 in Cambodia.[...]

The Criminal Code gives Canadian authorities the power to investigate and prosecute certain offences, such as child pornography and the victimization of children, committed by Canadian citizens in other countries. 
According to the Richmond Review [cache], on October 16, 2013 he "pled guilty to possessing a computer capable of connecting to the Internet on Aug. 1, 2013 at or near the city of Vancouver, which is a breach of one of his recognizance conditions." In January it was reported [cache] that evidence of child pornography had been found on his computer and that he would undergo a psychiatric assessment:
During an investigation launched after Vancouver Police received information Neil was in possession of electronics capable of accessing the Internet, Neil's cell phone, e-book reader and laptop were seized. After a thorough examination of his laptop, investigators found evidence he downloaded software that enabled computer folders to be completely hidden from view, and password protected. Several file names were found, including a half dozen with names suggestive of child pornography. Other files contained images of young boys having sex. His cell phone also contained images of young women, between the ages of 10 and 15.
What's interesting is that in October 2012, a BC court decided that Neil would be monitored for 18 months. One wonders if these charges coming at this time are related to that, or just a coincidence, especially considering the man is an obvious candidate for re-offending.

1 comment:

K said...

Well, these charges are for things that occurred before he became a public figure. Was the new evidence uncovered as a result of the monitoring, as a result of the 2013 charges or as a result of something else? Wait for the trial. This guy is like a drunk-driver who gets pulled over again and again.