Amanda Todd Case: Dutch Prosecutors Seek to Cut BC ‘Sextortion’ Sentence

In this courtroom sketch, Aydin Coban is pictured at B.C. Supreme Court, in New Westminster, B.C., on June 6, 2022. The Canadian Press/Jane Wolsak

Prosecutors in the Netherlands are seeking to cut the sentence imposed on a Dutch national for the “sextortion” of a British Columbia teenager who died by suicide, from 13 years to 4 1/2 years, an amount the girl’s mother says pleasantly surprised her.

“I was just in that mindset that it would be zero because of the Dutch laws,” Carol Todd, whose daughter Amanda Todd died in 2012, said in an interview Thursday.

“I was not thinking that they could ask for anything.”

Last August, a B.C. Supreme Court jury convicted Aydin Coban of extortion, harassment, communication with a young person to commit a sexual offence and possession and distribution of child pornography.

He was sentenced to 13 years in prison in October, but the term is to be served in the Netherlands after he finishes an 11-year sentence for other crimes in August next year. The Canadian sentence must first be converted into a period that conforms with Dutch law.

Coban had already been convicted of targeting more than 30 other victims when he was extradited to Canada to face trial in the Todd case.

He was not in court for a hearing Thursday at Amsterdam District Court to convert the Canadian sentence.

Public prosecutor Kasper van der Schaft told judges that a Dutch court would normally hand a four-year sentence to Coban for the crimes he was convicted for in Canada. But he urged judges to impose an extra six months.

Van der Schaft acknowledged that Canadians who are familiar with the Amanda Todd case would be “shocked” that a 13-year sentence imposed in Canada would be reduced to around a third of that in the Netherlands.

Coban’s Dutch lawyer, Robert Malewicz, called the Canadian sentence “exorbitantly high, even by Canadian standards.”

He said that Coban should not get any extra prison time, but if he does it should be no more than one year with six months suspended. That would mean Coban would only have to serve an extra six months if he commits another offence.

Carol Todd said she had submitted a victim impact statement to the Dutch court, but Coban’s lawyers had opted that it not be read in open court.

“I just wanted the court to understand the behaviours of this person and the loss of Amanda and the repercussions in the world of exploitation,” she said.

Malewicz criticized Canadian authorities for releasing Coban’s personal details, saying he now will forever be linked to the Todd case. Dutch authorities do not release full names or other identifying details about suspects in criminal cases.

“He will always be recognized,” Malewicz said. “That feels for him like a life sentence.”

But Carol Todd said she believes his name and photo should be public.

“He became the poster man, and Amanda was the poster child, but it was his choice to victimize her so it’s his consequence,” she said.

“I just shake my head over that one,” she said. “You chose to victimize the child and so now you have to pay the consequences for that. If it wasn’t published about him, it would be protecting him and this is about protecting other children.”

The court said it would issue a decision on July 13. The sentencing ruling can be appealed in the Dutch Supreme Court.

Carol Todd said she hopes the judges heed the prosecution’s suggestion.

“If Mr. Coban gets nothing, that sends a message out to predators that they could get away with something scot free, especially if they offend in other countries,” she said.

“I would love the judge to go above that, but I would hope they wouldn’t go lower than 4 1/2 years.”

Amanda Todd was 15 when she died by suicide in October 2012, not long after posting a video on YouTube that described how she was tormented by an online harasser.

She used flash cards to recount her ordeal in the video that’s since been viewed by millions, shining a light on the harms of online harassment and cyberbullying.

Coban was not charged in relation to Todd’s death.

In sentencing Coban last year, Canadian Justice Martha Devlin said he had targeted Todd with a “prolonged pattern of sextortion” and the “serious impact of the offences on Amanda was obvious to Mr. Coban and would have been obvious to anyone at the time.”

She added that “ruining Amanda’s life was Mr. Coban’s expressly stated goal. Sadly, one that he achieved.”