The trial for a Canadian schoolteacher charged with sexually abusing a nine-year-old boy in Thailand began Monday, but was quickly adjourned until October.
Christopher Neil, from Maple Ridge, B.C., is facing charges including sexually abusing a minor, videotaping the alleged abuse, taking a child without parental consent, and holding him against his will.
"Neil arrived at the Bangkok courthouse chained in shackles with several other inmates," CTV's Steve Chao reported Monday from Bangkok, Thailand. "In court, he heard, for the first time, the direct charges against him."
Neil pleaded not guilty to all of the official charges against him.
Neil, 33, was arrested last October following a worldwide Interpol manhunt after the international police agency unscrambled a digitally altered photo showing a Western man with Asian boys.
The man in that photo is alleged to be Neil.
Prosecutors will be relying on the testimony of a Thai boy and about 70 photographs. The boy was nine when the alleged incident occurred in 2003.
The alleged victim's father has launched a civil lawsuit against Neil. He's seeking $10,000 in damages.
"I want him jailed," Brapat Lawan told 麻豆影视 in his native tongue. "The money is not a big deal."
Neil, who spent years in Asia teaching English, has also pleaded not guilty in the civil suit.
When a judge asked him if he wanted to begin negotiations to settle the case Neil, replied he had no money, no work, and was in prison. He said there was nothing he could do about it.
"(Neil) now faces a maximum of 35 years in prison, not the 20 years as previously reported," said Chao.
If Neil is acquitted in Thailand, he could face more charges in nearby Vietnam and Cambodia. Paul Gillespie, CEO of Kids Internet Safety Alliance, said Neil should not be sent back to Canada if convicted.
"If convicted he should serve every day of his sentence in that country where he chose to go to," Gillespie told CTV's Canada AM on Monday. "He would not commit those crimes in Canada because there would have been a much greater risk of being caught."
The court adjourned Neil's trial Monday after lawyers agreed to the delay -- mainly to allow the defence more time to build its case. The trial is expected to resume in the fall.
"This is a court appointed lawyer who so far, although being appointed months ago, has yet to meet with Christopher Neil," said Chao.
Matthew Neil said Monday that his brother is staying positive.
"He remains optimistic, he's in good spirits, he's a bit more resigned now as time passes," Matthew Neil told CTV's Canada AM
He also told 麻豆影视 that they have been unable to raise money to help his brother obtain a private lawyer. He said the family fully supports his brother emotionally.
Neil's boyfriend
Meanwhile, Christopher Neil's Thai boyfriend says it's "impossible" he could have abused anyone.
Ohm, who only goes by one name and first met Neil three years ago, says the Canadian never gave him the impression he was a pedophile as Thai police have alleged.
"I think it's impossible," he told CTV's Steve Chao in the Thai city of Pattaya. "I didn't know him before, but when I knew him, he looked like a normal guy."
Ohm, 26, is one of Neil's staunchest defenders and has regularly visited him in jail.
"I told him I will wait for him," he said.
With a report by CTV's Steve Chao in Bangkok
