'Swirl face' pedophile Christopher Neil to live in Vancouver

B.C. Corrections says high-risk sex offender Christopher Neil has chosen to live in Vancouver when he completes his 5½-year sentence this summer. 

"Public safety is B.C. Corrections' top priority. To this end, we are issuing a public notification about Christopher Neil," wrote corrections spokesperson Cindy Rose. 

"Privacy laws prevent us from providing details beyond those included in the public notification. However, we want the public to be aware of this individual's presence in the community." 

Neil, 42, was nicknamed Swirl Face for the way he obscured his image in photos of him sexually abusing young boys in Southeast Asia. He was sentenced in June 2016 and had 14 months time behind bars remaining.   

His release comes with 18 court-ordered conditions, which include: 

• No contact directly or indirectly with any person under the age of 16.
• Not to engage in any activity that involves contact with persons under the age of 16 years, including via a computer.
• Not to be on the property of near any place where persons under 16 might be, including parks, playgrounds, school grounds,  and community centres.
• Not to direct any person to possess, use or access any electronic device or computer system on his behalf.

Anyone who sees Neil violating any of these conditions is asked to contact police. 

Neil had 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 in 2007, and two charges of accessing child pornography in Vancouver in 2013 and 2014.