The Canadian from Maple Ridge, B.C. was arrested early Friday morning in the northeastern Thai province of Nakhon Ratchasima, about 250 km from Bangkok, ending an intensive international manhunt.
Within hours, Neil was swarmed by reporters as he was taken in handcuffs to Bangkok's national police headquarters.
With a blue shirt draped over his head, the 32-year-old said nothing to reporters, but that wasn't his only appearance before the cameras or media.
At a news conference later, Neil sat quietly with dark sunglasses on his face as officials with the Royal Thai Police addressed a throng of reporters.
Neil's brother Matthew told Â鶹´«Ã½ in Vancouver his brother looked tired. He also said he knows that Neil is in the middle of an international situation, but he hoped his brother would be returned to Canada.
"Certainly I would prefer him to be tried in Canada," he said.Police in Thailand said they tracked Neil by tracing the mobile phone of his 25-year-old Thai boyfriend.
"The first question we asked him, are you Mr. Christopher Paul Neil. The police got the right answer, 'yes, I am.' But he didn't say what he was doing," said Lt. Gen. Pongsapat Pongcharden.
Neil refused to answer allegations he photographed and sexually abused dozens of children in Asia, including a 14-year-old boy who claimed he was one of Neil's alleged victims.
"With the witness, with the child, with the picture, we believe that he did it," Pongcharden said.
Neil's capture first came about with German police descrambling an Internet picture of him allegedly involved in sex acts with children. Then came a photo of him at the airport entering Thailand.
But police sources told Â鶹´«Ã½, the big break happened when Neil logged on to a computer in Thailand's sex tourism hot spot. Police were tracing his e-mail address. In a sweep, sex-trade workers in the area then reported he was travelling with a cross-dressing male companion.
The man admitted he knew Neil's whereabouts and led police to a rented house in Nakhon Ratchasima.
Canadian investigation
B.C. Attorney General Wally Oppal said he had discussions with Interpol last week when they were trying to find Neil.
Oppal had told the Canadian Press that there were complaints against Neil in B.C., but his office later retracted the statement.
Neil, who once studied at a seminary and taught briefly in Roman Catholic schools in British Columbia, was a chaplain and counsellor at military cadet youth camps in Saskatchewan and Nova Scotia.
Police in B.C. say they are still investigating Neil's activities in the province.
Allegations
Neil abruptly left his teaching job in South Korea and flew to Thailand last week, after digitally unscrambled images of a pedophilia suspect were released to the public.
German police, investigating the case for about three years, say they discovered about 200 photos of a man sexually abusing children -- but his face had been digitally disguised.
Investigators say the break came after they were able to digitally reconstruct a man's face in the pictures, which they then released to the media through Interpol on Oct. 8.
The allegations also stretch to dozens of Cambodian and Vietnamese boys. Thailand is the first country to bring charges against Neil. Interpol's "Red Notice" requests the subject's arrest for extradition.
After those images aired, police say three Thai youths came forward Wednesday alleging they were paid to perform oral sex in 2003, a police official told The Associated Press. At the time, the boys were 9, 13 and 14.
Two of the boys also claim they were shown pornographic images at the suspect's apartment.
The Thai warrant was based on the testimony of one of the boys, who said he was lured to the suspect's apartment by a Thai man, said police Maj. Gen. Wimol Powintara.
Additional charges could be added
Under Canada's Criminal Code, there are provisions to charge someone in this country for certain offences committed abroad, including crimes that fall under the category of "sex tourism."
Canada has an extradition treaty with Thailand, which could allow Neil to be tried here.
"We would probably in due course, depending on what the Criminal Justice Branch decides here, want him extradited," said Oppal.
"But it's really premature to say anything at this stage because we don't know what process will take place in Thailand."
With files from The Associated Press
The allegations also stretch to dozens of Cambodian and Vietnamese boys. Thailand is the first country to bring charges against Neil. Interpol's "Red Notice" requests the subject's arrest for extradition.
After those images aired, police say three Thai youths came forward Wednesday alleging they were paid to perform oral sex in 2003, a police official told The Associated Press. At the time, the boys were 9, 13 and 14.
Two of the boys also claim they were shown pornographic images at the suspect's apartment.
The Thai warrant was based on the testimony of one of the boys, who said he was lured to the suspect's apartment by a Thai man, said police Maj. Gen. Wimol Powintara.
Additional charges could be added
Under Canada's Criminal Code, there are provisions to charge someone in this country for certain offences committed abroad, including crimes that fall under the category of "sex tourism."
Canada has an extradition treaty with Thailand, which could allow Neil to be tried here.
"We would probably in due course, depending on what the Criminal Justice Branch decides here, want him extradited," said Oppal.
"But it's really premature to say anything at this stage because we don't know what process will take place in Thailand."
With files from The Associated Press
