Trial of B.C. teacher begins in Thailand

Former B.C. teacher Christopher Paul Neil appeared in court in Thailand on Tuesday for the start of his trial on charges of abusing a nine-year-old boy.

The BBC reported the 32-year-old was brought to Bangkok's Central Criminal Court in ankle chains and held a magazine in front of his face to shield himself from the media.

Neil, who is originally from Maple Ridge, B.C., has already been sentenced to more than three years in prison after pleading guilty in May to similar charges against a 13-year-old boy.

The boy involved in Neil's current trial claims he was paid $15 to $30 to perform oral sex in 2003, but Neil has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Neil was arrested in Thailand in 2007 following an international manhunt that began after hundreds of photos of a man abusing boys and teenagers surfaced on the internet.

The face of the man was digitally swirled to hide his identity, but Interpol unscrambled the photos.