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Forces’ screening of counsellors more stringent
Applicants must pass criminal record checks
By JEFFREY SIMPSON Staff Reporter
The military has introduced more stringent screening measures for its counsellors since suspected pedophile Christopher Paul Neil worked at its cadet camps in Nova Scotia.
Lieut. Isabelle Riche of the Forces’ media liaison office in Ottawa said Thursday all applicants for chaplain counsellors must go through extensive criminal record checks thanks to changes in the process.
"There’s more steps to be followed by an applicant," Lieut. Riche said.
The biggest changes were introduced earlier this year to weed out potential problematic candidates.
Mr. Neil, 32, only had to provide two letters of reference and a letter of good standing from the seminary or university from which he graduated as a chaplain when he worked in 1998 and ’99 at HMCS Acadia in Cornwallis, Canada’s largest summer training centre for sea cadets, and in 2000 at the air cadet training centre at 14 Wing Greenwood.
"He also had to pass an interview and take a three-day training course," Lieut. Riche said.
In 2003 the process was changed so all applicants had to submit to a police background check. And earlier this year the military started checking for any charges a person faced, even those that may not have resulted in convictions, such as being found not guilty due to mental disorders. A person’s past is now probed for probation, prohibition, judicial orders and apprehension under the Mental Health Act.
Lieut. Riche wouldn’t comment on whether the military is trying to track down former cadets who would have come in contact with Mr. Neil at one of the camps because she hadn’t heard that was happening.
"There have been no complaints about Mr. Neil or his behaviour during his employment at the cadet summer training centres," she said.
Lieut. Riche also wasn’t aware of any complaints about other counsellors acting inappropriately at cadet camps.
Mr. Neil, of Maple Ridge, B.C., is the target of a global manhunt and his photograph has been distributed around the world. He is alleged to have had sex with two boys at his Bangkok apartment.
He’s believed to be in Thailand after cameras at the immigration counter recorded him arriving at Bangkok’s international airport from South Korea last week.
Mr. Neil became a wanted man three years ago when German police found 300 online photos of a man sexually abusing children. They were only recently able to ascertain his identity after reconstructing his face, which was digitally obscured in the photos.
The former schoolteacher is also believed to have posted tips online under the pseudonym Peter Jackson on how to evade criminal background checks when applying for jobs in Asia and how to encrypt computer hard drives.
"I never gave a police check for my last public school job," he wrote. "I was in Vietnam at the time and getting one wasn’t easy. I delayed and never heard about it again."
Lieut. Riche said about 1,400 cadets passed through HMCS Acadia this past summer and about 1,300 went through Greenwood. She said enrolment at the camps was likely a little smaller when Mr. Neil worked there.
With The Canadian Press.
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