Because of time already served, B.C. man will serve another 14 months in jail, judge rules
CBC News
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In 2007, Interpol identified Christopher Paul Neil as the man in a series of "swirl face" photos that had been posted online. (Interpol)
A British Columbia pedophile convicted of producing online child pornography in Cambodia and disguising his face with a swirl has been sentenced to 5½ years in prison.
But because of his time already served, a B.C. Supreme Court judge has ruled Christopher Neil will remain behind bars for just over 14 months.
The full sentence is six months longer than the five years the Crown had requested. Prosecutor Brendan McCabe said he was "very happy with the decision."
Neil will also be restricted from using the internet for five years except to seek employment, and banned for life from playgrounds, parks and anywhere children might congregate.
Neil, 41, was nicknamed Swirl Face for the way he obscured his image in photos of him sexually abusing young boys in Southeast Asia.
In December, he pleaded guilty to five charges laid in 2013, including counts under Canada's rarely used child-sex tourism laws.
The province's Criminal Justice Branch said the guilty pleas pertained to two charges of sexual interference involving two boys under the age of 14 in Cambodia in 2003, one charge of possessing child pornography in Maple Ridge, (Vancouver suburb) in 2007, and two charges of accessing child pornography in Vancouver in 2013 and 2014.
During the sentencing hearing Neil's lawyer, Mark Thompson, argued that his client has served enough time in jail and further incarceration wouldn't help in his rehabilitation or reintegration.
Thompson presented a report on Neil by a psychologist who supported an argument for release, noting his client poses a low to moderate risk of directly re-offending.
Low to moderate risk - so why not let him have another go at destroying the innocence of children?
With files from The Canadian Press
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