Unmasked and facing justice in Thailand, the 'swirly face' paedophile

Christopher Neil was the focus of a worldwide hunt after police used computer wizardry to unscramble the photographs of boys being sexually abused.

The 32-year-old Canadian will be charged with molesting underage children after being tracked down through a trace on his Thai boyfriend's phone.

He refused to answer reporters' questions after being caught at a rented house in the north-east province of Nakhon Ratchasima, 150 miles from Bangkok and well off the tourist trail.

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Neil later arrived in handcuffs at the national police headquarters in Bangkok where he spoke only to confirm his identity.

Wongkot Maneerin, Deputy National Police Chief, told a packed news conference: "From pictures on the internet, there were five to seven children under ten abused by him, including one girl."

Thai police appealed for any other victims to come forward. Neil is also accused of raping young boys in Vietnam and Cambodia.

His hiding place was revealed by the signal from the mobile phone of his 25- year-old Thai boyfriend, who was identified by transvestites in the seedy beach town of Pattaya.

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Tourist police chief Chuchart Suwannakom said: "They went together to different provinces, probably on the run, and the last call made was from Nakhon Ratchasima so I sent my men there."

Thai police issued a warrant for Neil's arrest on Thursday, a week after he fled there from South Korea where he had been a teacher.

Officers acted after two teenagers accused him of paying for sex acts when they were nine and 14.

Neil was photographed entering Thailand with a shaved head and glasses by airport security cameras.

He had abruptly left South Korea when Interpol broadcast his photograph free of the "swirly face" disguise after work by German police experts.

Neil could face up to 20 years in jail.

Wongkot said he would be prosecuted in Bangkok but left open the possibility that he could be extradited after serving his sentence, if convicted.

Detectives in various countries have been trying to find Neil since German police discovered photographs on the internet three years ago of a man sexually abusing 12 boys in Vietnam and Cambodia.

After computer experts were able to unscramble the image of his face, Interpol issued an unprecedented appeal through the Internet.

Investigators said more than 350 people came forward and Neil was identified by five sources from three continents.