UPDATE 1:10 p.m The sentencing hearing of the Dutchman found guilty of molesting British Columbia teenager Amanda Todd has been postponed until next month due to illness. BC Supreme Court Justice Martha Devlin granted the Crown’s request to delay Aydin Coban’s hearing because one of the prosecutors tested positive for COVID-19 Tuesday morning. Coban’s defense lawyers told the court in New Westminster they opposed the postponement, but Devlin set Oct. 11 as the new start date for the four-day hearing. A jury convicted Coban last month of extortion, harassment, contacting a juvenile for a sexual offense and possession and distribution of child pornography. Coban was extradited from the Netherlands to face the charges and the trial heard he used 22 separate online accounts to harass and blackmail Todd over several years before the 15-year-old killed himself in 2012. He has not been charged in connection with Todd’s death. The teenager from Port Coquitlam, BC, posted a video on social media before her death, which has since been viewed millions of times, in which she used flash cards to describe how she was tormented by an online stalker. Before Coban was extradited, a Dutch court sentenced him to nearly 11 years in prison for online fraud and extortion of dozens of young girls and gay men. That court heard Coban, who is in his 40s, pretended to be a boy or girl and persuaded his victims to perform sexual acts in front of a webcam, then posted the images online or blackmailed them by threatening to do so. The Dutch court handed Coban the maximum sentence for what it described as “the devastating consequences of his conduct” on the lives of his victims. Carol Todd, Amanda’s mother, said she will give a victim impact statement during the sentencing hearing. ORIGINAL 6:30 AM A sentencing hearing is expected to begin today for a Dutch man found guilty of molesting British Columbia teenager Amanda Todd in the years before she took her own life. A PK Supreme Court jury convicted Aydin Koban last month of extortion, harassment, contacting a juvenile for a sexual offense and possession and distribution of child pornography. Crown prosecutor Louise Kenworthy told jurors before they began deliberations that a “treasure trove of information” linked Coban to Todd’s molestation, including information found on two hard drives seized from his home. Lawyers for Coban, who was extradited from the Netherlands to face the charges, argued the Crown’s evidence did not prove he was the person behind multiple online accounts used to harass the teenager from Port Coquitlam, B.C. Todd’s mother, Carol Todd, said she will deliver a victim impact statement during the sentencing hearing, which is expected to last until the end of the week. Todd was 15 when she took her own life in October 2012, shortly after posting a video on YouTube depicting her being tormented by an online stalker. She used flash cards to recount her ordeal in the video that has since been viewed by millions, shining a light on the harms of online harassment and cyberbullying. Coban was not charged in Todd’s death. Before Coban was extradited, a Dutch court sentenced him to almost 11 years in prison for similar online offenses following a 2017 trial in Amsterdam where he was accused of online abuse of 34 girls and five gay men. That court heard Coban, who is in his 40s, pretended to be a boy or girl and persuaded his victims to perform sexual acts in front of a webcam, then posted the images online or blackmailed them by threatening to do so. . He was convicted of fraud and online extortion and given the maximum sentence for what Dutch legal authorities described as “the devastating effects of his conduct” on the lives of his victims.
