NEW WESTMINSTER, British Columbia — A Canadian jury on Saturday found a Dutchman guilty of extortion, harassment and other charges related to the case of a Canadian teenager who was blackmailed into exposing herself in front of a webcam. The 15-year-old later took her own life after detailing her harassment in a YouTube video watched by millions around the world.
The jury in Aydin Coban’s trial in the British Columbia Supreme Court found him guilty of all charges against him, including communicating with a youth to commit a sexual offense and possessing and distributing of child pornography in connection with Port Coquitlam, British Columbia, teenager Amanda Todd.
She was 15 when she took her own life in 2012 after posting a video describing being tormented by an online stalker.
The jury’s unanimous verdict comes a day after deliberations began.
Coban was extradited from the Netherlands to Canada in 2020 after being convicted in Amsterdam of similar charges involving dozens of young girls and gay men.
Amanda Todd brought the problem of cyberbullying to the attention of the general public in Canada after posting the video on YouTube in which she told her story with handwritten signs, describing how she was lured by a stranger to expose her breasts on a webcam.
The photo ended up on a Facebook page created by the stranger, to which her friends were added.
She was repeatedly bullied, despite changing schools, before finally killing herself weeks after posting the video.
ABC News