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Judge extends detention of Canadian by 12 days

A Canadian schoolteacher who allegedly had sex with dozens of young boys will be held in a Thai jail for at least 12 days pending a trial on molestation charges, a court ordered yesterday.

Christopher Paul Neil, one of the world's most wanted alleged pedophiles, was arrested early on Friday at a house in Thailand's rural northeastern province of Nakhon Ratchasima, which he rented with a Thai transvestite friend whose phone calls police had traced.

A judge in the Bangkok Criminal Court signed a police order to extend his detention to 12 days, and could move later to keep him behind bars up to 84 days. After the closed-door hearing, Neil was incarcerated at the Bangkok Remand Prison.

The 32-year-old Neil arrived in court wearing a red-striped T-shirt, baseball cap and sunglasses.

Looking haggard, he said "no comment" when reporters asked if he had anything to say to his family.

"He was stressed out and could not sleep very well," said police Major General Wimol Powintara, chief of the crimes against children, juveniles and women division. "I asked my subordinates to take care of him and give him food and drinks, so he feels better."

Neil was charged on Friday with taking a child under 15 without parental consent with intent to molest, punishable by up to 20 years in prison; illegal detention, punishable by up to three years; and sexual abuse of a child under 15, punishable by up to 10 years.

Wimol said the investigation into the allegations could take a month and a trial could start soon after.

Though Neil has not spoken publicly, Lieutenant Colonel Manat Thongsimuang said he "denied all the charges" when questioned by police on Friday.

In Canada, Neil's family issued an e-mailed statement in which they said "mistakes have been made but he is still a member of our family."

"We will do everything we can to support him during this troubling time in his life," the Neil family statement said. "We are all in agreement that he should be extradited to Canada to face these allegations."

Speaking separately to reporters outside his home in Maple Ridge, British Columbia, Neil's younger brother, Matthew, said the family is "relieved and we want to see this move forward to the next phase of the event."

"I would like to see him come back to Canada, but I understand that it's an international incident and I understand the need for multinational involvement," he said.
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