By The Canadian Press

Pedophile dubbed ‘Swirl Face’ sentenced to 5 1/2 years by B.C. judge

Jun 1, 2016 | 10:38 AM

NEW WESTMINSTER, B.C. — A British Columbia man convicted of producing online child pornography in Cambodia where he disguised his face with a swirl has been sentenced to 5 1/2 years in prison.

With time already served, Christopher Neil’s remaining sentence is just over 14 months, which is more time than the Crown had requested. 

The 41-year-old man pleaded guilty in December to five child-sex crimes that took place in Cambodia, as well as Vancouver and nearby Maple Ridge, spanning a 10-year period.

Judge John Harvey says the sentence reflects the gravity of the crimes and high moral culpability of Neil, noting that he not only victimized two young boys by manufacturing child pornography but harmed them again by posting videos online.

Neil has been held in custody since the RCMP Child Exploitation Unit arrested him two years ago following a sweeping investigation in B.C. and Cambodia.

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At his sentencing hearing in April, Neil apologized to his victims and said he intends to change his behaviour.

He was dubbed “Swirl Face” by international media after authorities released pictures of a man engaged in sex acts with two young boys, showing his face disguised by a digital swirl.

Neil has also served nearly five years in a Thailand prison for the unrelated sexual abuse of two boys, but was released early and returned to Canada in the fall of 2012.

Neil initially faced 10 charges including producing images in Cambodia in 2003 that brought him under the scrutiny of Interpol.

The five charges he pleaded guilty to in December include counts under Canada’s child-sex tourism laws. He pleaded guilty to two counts of sexual interference in Cambodia in 2003, one charge of possessing child pornography in Maple Ridge in 2007 and two charges of accessing child pornography in Vancouver in 2013.

Court heard he met his victims over two days in an impoverished district know for child-sex tourism outside the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh in February 2003.

A Canadian investigator tracked down and interviewed one of the victims, who reported he was 13 at the time. The man, now about 25, was terrified of being exposed and at risk of suicide, court was told.

Neil’s lawyer had asked the judge for a sentence of time served, arguing further incarceration wouldn’t help with his client’s rehabilitation or reintegration.

Neil has been in segregation for the past two years awaiting trial and wanted to be released so he can work, Mark Thompson said.

Tamsyn Burgmann, The Canadian Press