Mother of teenager targeted by cyberbullying, frustrated by delay in Dutch sentencing
The mother of a British Columbia teen who committed suicide after years of cyberbullying and sextortion at the hands of a man from the Netherlands, said the latest delay in a Dutch court contributed to her “never-ending story”.
Carol Todd said she had hoped to learn that the court had commuted a 13-year Canadian sentence imposed last fall on Aydin Coban in British Columbia after he was convicted of harassment and extortion in the brutal online stalking that led to the death of her daughter in 2012. Amanda Todd.
The conversion would have integrated the Canadian sentence into a Dutch prison sentence previously imposed on Coban for similar crimes.
Instead, Todd said she was told the Dutch court wants more details about when Coban would have been released in Canada if he had served the 13-year sentence.
Todd made the comments Thursday while talking to reporters at Vancouver International Airport.
Coban was in his 30s when he blackmailed Todd’s daughter into exposing himself in front of a webcam.
The 15-year-old from Port Coquitlam, BC, committed suicide after recounting her ordeal in a YouTube video that has since been viewed by millions around the world.
At a brief hearing on Thursday when a new verdict was expected to be announced, a judge instead said the Amsterdam court panel needs clarification from Canada on the most likely date Coban would be released if he serves his sentence. a Canadian would serve. jail.
“We have to consider when he would actually have been released and Canadian authorities have given some possible dates, but don’t say that’s the most likely date he would be released,” Coban’s lawyer Robert Malewicz told reporters at the courthouse .
No new date has been set for a hearing in the case. An appeal against the sentence can still be lodged with the Supreme Court.
Coban was already serving an 11-year sentence in the Netherlands for similar crimes against more than 30 other victims when he was extradited to Canada to face Todd’s case. Her death brought the issue of cyberbullying to the attention of the general public in Canada.
He was sent to Canada on the condition that he serve the sentence imposed there in a Dutch prison. The Canadian sentence must also be converted to Dutch sentencing standards.
Prosecutors said two weeks ago that under Dutch law Coban must serve 4 1/2 years.
Malewicz called Canada’s 13-year sentence “exorbitant, even by Canadian standards”. He said Coban should not receive an additional prison sentence, but if he does, it should not exceed one year, with six months probation.
