BANGKOK -- A Canadian man, arrested after police unravelled a digitally scrambled face from images of child abuse found on the internet, will begin his trial Monday in Thailand.

Four months after his arrest, Christopher Neil, of Maple Ridge, B.C., who pleaded not guilty, will stand trial on charges of molesting underage children in Thailand.

Neil was arrested in rural Thailand in October after a week-long manhunt.

Thai police accuse the 32-year-old of raping young boys in Vietnam and Cambodia several years ago.

Detectives in various countries had been trying to track Neil down since German police discovered photographs on the Internet three years ago of a man sexually abusing 12 boys in Vietnam and Cambodia.

The man's face had been scrambled with a digital swirling pattern, but German police computer experts managed to unravel the disguise and Interpol issued an unprecedented worldwide appeal through the Internet for information.

More than 350 people came forward with information.

If convicted, Neil could face up to 20 years in jail in Thailand.

- CanWest (Canada)