Comparison: Christopher Paul Neil

Christopher Paul Neil was born on February 6, 1975. He is also called Mr. Swirl, Swirl Face, or Vico (nickname which he got after Interpol operation related to him). He is a convicted child molester. He molested at least 12 young boys and became the subject of a well- known Interpol investigation in Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand, primarily due to the worldwide broadcast of pornographic images showing the abuse. He got arrested by Thai police in October 2007.

Life

Neil was born in New Westminster, British Columbia, Canada. He was raised and educated in Maple Ridge, British Columbia. He continued his education and planned to become a Catholic priest. The Seminary of Christ the King in Mission, British Columbia did not allow him to become a priest, and he decided to join teaching instead.

Interpol search and capture

Neil appeared in over 200 photos showing the abuse on the Internet and led to a wide-reaching manhunt known as Operation Vico. Neil's face was covered by a digital swirl in the photographs, but German computer specialists at the Federal Criminal Police Office were capable enough to recreate the original photo, using procedures which they have not revealed but are believed to have been as simple as running the transformation in reverse (see Reverse swirl transformation below).

A number of these reconstructed photographs were posted on Interpol's website and led to over 350 people contacting the organization; five of them identified the man as Neil. Neil was employed as an English teacher in the city of Gwangju, South Korea, at the time but fled (with a one-way ticket) to Thailand when he was identified publicly. He was arrested in the Nakhon Ratchasima Province, on October 19, 2007. Thai police apparently located the escapee by means of a trace on the mobile phone of his 25-year-old gay Thai partner, who was himself recognized by transvestites in the beach town of Pattaya. As Neil reached the Royal Thai National Police Headquarters, he was met by around 300 journalists, which resulted in a panic.

The start of trial was set for March 10, 2008 on January 11, 2008. He appealed that he not guilty. A lawyer was assigned to him. He was sentenced on August 15, 2008 to 39 months in prison and $1,780 fine. On November 24, 2008, his sentence was extended by six years after his conviction for molesting a second child.

What is Reverse swirl transformation

In principle, the "swirl" operation was used by Neil to cover his face in photographs is lossless: that is, information of the original image is not lost and can be restored perfectly from the transformed version. In practice however both resolution and colour depth limitations in a digital image make the operation slightly lossy. Applying a second swirl operation with opposite rotational direction and same intensity as the first will recover most of the swirled images.

When starting with a "pre-swirled" image, the reversal may not be as easily finished as the settings of the initial swirl are not identified. The correct position, area of effect and intensity (angle) of the swirl must be determined in order to cancel the initial swirl successfully, possibly by trial and error, or with a live preview.

Neil Returns to Canada

After five years' imprisonment in Thailand, on September 29, 2012, Neil returned to Canada, as a result of which he was immediately arrested at Vancouver International Airport under a Criminal Code 810.1 warrant. On October 3, 2012, he was released from custody on strict conditions. On August 2, 2013, Neil was arrested at his home for breach of recognizance. He pled guilty in October. Child pornography was found on his laptop and his cell phone. His sentencing occurred on May 6, 2014, at which time he received three months' jail time plus three years' probation for breach of conditions. Neil was already under arrest, having been denied bail on April 10, 2014, pending a criminal trial stemming from additional child molesting crime which he is suspected to have committed in Cambodia.