Author of the article: Amanda Todd took her own life in 2012 after becoming a victim of online bullying. Photo by Mike Bell /PNG

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NEW WESTMINSTER — A Dutch man accused of torturing British Columbia teenager Amanda Todd through online threats was found guilty of all charges he faced in the case, a jury ruled Saturday.

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Aydin Coban was charged with extortion, harassment, contacting a young person for a sexual offense and possession and distribution of child pornography. The court presiding over his trial at the Supreme Court of K.H. issued its unanimous verdict a day after deliberations began. Cheers of ‘yes’ were heard from the teenager’s mother and supporters when the verdict was read. Carol Todd, Amanda’s mother, smiled through tears as the jury confirmed the verdict was unanimous. Coban, who wore a blue button-down shirt and dark pants, pursed his lips as the verdict was read but otherwise showed little emotion. He craned his neck to look at the jury leaving the room. Jurors were asked two questions earlier in the day, but returned their verdict minutes after receiving the answers.

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Judge Martha Devlin said the Crown and defense are scheduled to meet Aug. 11 to set a date for sentencing. Todd was 15 when she took her own life in 2012 after posting a video describing being tormented by an online stalker. The harrowing account, which has been seen by millions of viewers since her death, saw her use flash cards to describe her ordeal of anonymous online bullying. Her plea and subsequent death shed light on the issue of online harassment and cyberbullying. Aidin Coban is shown in handout photos from the time of his arrest by Dutch police, who entered an exhibit at his trial in British Columbia Supreme Court in New Westminster. Photo HO /THE CANADIAN PRESS At the start of the trial in June, Coban pleaded not guilty to all charges he faced. He has not been charged in connection with Todd’s death. Crown attorney Louise Kenworthy told the jury that two hard drives seized from Holland’s home had connections to Amanda Todd, including a deleted bookmark to child pornography depicting the girl.

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She said at the start of the trial that Todd had been the victim of a persistent online “blackmail” campaign three years before her death. An RCMP officer testified that he found “actual snippets of conversation” between Todd and several of the online aliases used to harass her on a device seized from Coban’s home. After summarizing the evidence in closing arguments, Kenworthy said the only conclusion the jury could reach was that Coban was guilty. His defense called no witnesses in the case, and his attorney Joseph Saulnier told jurors in closing arguments that scraps of data reported by police at trial could not link Coban to Todd’s extortion or harassment. A Dutch court has approved Coban’s extradition to Canada after his trial there on similar charges.

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Coban was sentenced to nearly 11 years in prison after a trial in Amsterdam in 2017 for cyberbullying dozens of young girls and gay men. He was convicted of fraud and online blackmail and given a maximum sentence of 10 years and eight months in prison for what Dutch legal authorities said were “the devastating effects of his conduct” on the lives of his victims. That court heard Coban pretended to be a boy or girl and convinced his victims to perform sexual acts in front of a webcam, then posted the images online or blackmailed them into doing so. He was accused of abusing 34 girls and five gay men, behavior the court described as “stunning”. In some cases, the abuse lasted for years. Outside the courtroom, the mother of the Port Coquitlam, BC, teenager said she was “thrilled” by what she called a “fair” verdict on all five charges.

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“I’m very happy that after waiting patiently for the last eight years, he came to a conclusion that everyone, not just me, not just our family, but many people in, around, beyond Canada will be glad to hear,” said Carol Todd in an interview. Carol Todd said her daughter’s legacy will not fade, even though the case is now over. It has brought discussions about blackmail to the fore, he noted. “It has set a new precedent,” he said. “And it’s Amanda who made that happen for us.” Defense attorney Saulnier said he was “disappointed” with the verdict. “This is not what we expected or expected. It is not the verdict we expected at all on any of the five charges,” he said. “Now we have to consider our options. Well, we’ll talk to our client. An appeal is a possibility, but we need some time to decide.”

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During the nine-week trial, Todd’s mother said she wore sparkly shoes and nail polish in her daughter’s favorite shade of purple. He sat behind Coban throughout the trial and glanced at him when the verdict was read. Todd said she was “pleased” to know she was in that room. Her daughter would have turned 26 on November 27 this year. He said he will have a drink in her honor on Saturday evening, although he hasn’t decided what it will be. She has thought of her daughter’s favorite foods, which included straight-from-the-jar peanut butter, mac and cheese and pizza. “She was a teenager,” her mother said with a laugh. Carol Todd will start work on her victim impact statement and is looking forward to a holiday in three weeks. The teenager’s mother – who works as a teacher – said she will return to gardening growing tomatoes, peas, purple beans and corn and work to raise awareness about blackmail now that the case is almost over. “It was a difficult case.” — With files from The Associated Press

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