By Canadian Press

Harassment of B.C. teen from 22 accounts came from one person, Crown attorney says

Jul 28, 2022 | 1:26 PM

NEW WESTMINSTER, B.C. — A Crown attorney says similarities in messages from 22 online accounts that harassed and extorted British Columbia teenager Amanda Todd in the three years before her death prove they came from the same person.

Marcel Daigle told the B.C. Supreme Court jury trial of Aydin Coban, the Dutch man accused of harassing and extorting the teen who died in October 2012, that the similarities and cohesion of the messages is “overwhelming.” 

Daigle says the various accounts used similar language and phrases and referenced previous threats and exchanges with Todd, as they repeatedly demanded that she perform sexual “shows” on a web camera, or sexualized images of the teen would be sent to her family and classmates.

Coban has pleaded not guilty to extortion, harassment, communication with a young person to commit a sexual offence and possessing child pornography.

Daigle says the next part of the Crown’s closing argument will focus on showing that Coban was the “sextortionist” behind the accounts used to harass Todd.

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The jury was previously shown a Facebook post by Todd in which the teen from Port Coquitlam said she feared the person harassing her would continue for the rest of her life, and there was nothing she could do to stop it.

Todd urged people on Facebook to block one of the harasser’s accounts, saying a “sick pedophile” was blackmailing her, another Crown attorney said on Wednesday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 28, 2022.

The Canadian Press