Canada: A Canadian jury on Saturday found Dutch national Aydin Coban responsible for sexually extorting a British Columbian teen whose video of online harassment sparked a global discussion on cyberbullying. Coban was found guilty on all counts. The British Columbia Supreme Court found Coban guilty of extortion, two counts of possessing child pornography, child luring, and criminal harassment against Amanda Todd, the adolescent who committed suicide in 2012. Coban was extradited to Canada. When Amanda Todd posted a YouTube video describing her online harassment, it sparked a global discussion about cyberbullying. She died by suicide at the age of 15.
Coban, 44, had entered a not guilty plea to five charges in connection with Todd's case. He wasn't held accountable for Todd's passing.
In order for the jury to find Coban guilty of the charges against him, the prosecution had to prove their case beyond a reasonable doubt, according to British Columbia Supreme Court Justice Martha Devlin. They must exonerate Coban if not, according to Devlin.
After several weeks of testimony that included numerous witnesses and evidence presented by the prosecution prior to the beginning of the closing arguments, the verdict was reached. After being found guilty in Amsterdam of charges similar to those he faced in Canada, involving numerous young girls and gay men, Coban was extradited from the Netherlands to Canada in 2020. Judges in those cases had determined that Coban had gained the trust of his victims before persuading them to send him inappropriate sexual images. He then threatened to make those images public.
The Dutch Supreme Court had determined that he sent sexual images to the friends and families of his victims as a result of his threats.
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