In the Supreme Court of British Columbia, Amanda Todd’s mother, Carol Todd, told on the first day of Aydin Coban’s trial on Monday how her heart pounded when she clicked on a link to an adult pornography website showing a photo of his teenage daughter. before Christmas in 2010.
Dutchman Aydin Coban has been accused of harassing and intimidating Amanda Todd. Carol Todd said the link to the site was contained in a Facebook message addressed to her.
Aydin Coban pleaded not guilty Monday to charges of extortion, harassment, talking to a minor to commit a sexual offense and two counts of possession of child pornography.
Crown Attorney Louise Kenworthy said in her opening statement that 15-year-old Amanda was the victim of a ongoing campaign ng sextortion online from November 2009 to February 2012, before he committed suicide in October 2012.
Ms Kenworthy said sextortionist used more than 20 separate usernames to contact the Port Coquitlam teenager, who threatened to send friends and family photos showing him with his hand inside his underwear and exposing his breasts , unless he does not engage in sexual acts in front of a web camera.
Messages via Facebook, YouTube and Skype
Carol Todd testified at the jury trial that she took a screenshot and printed a copy of what she saw when she clicked on the link to the Facebook post in December 2010.
He said he planned to report it to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) the next morning, as it was around 10:00 pm, but an officer rang the doorbell to him around 2:00 am to make a Security control about Amanda’s stay with her father at the time.
Ms Kenworthy showed the jury examples of messages sent to the teenager via Facebook, YouTube and Skype, including one that the author said would be lost if he organized 10 shows.
The prosecutor said the messages were also sent to more than 100 Facebook users that Amanda knew, telling them she exposed her breasts online and included a link to a website.
After receiving the initial message, Ms Todd said she went with Amanda and her father to discuss the situation with police. Her daughter was silent and did not speak about the incident, according to Ms Todd, but after speaking later she decided it was because Amanda felt guilt, shame and fear that she was in trouble.
Amanda Todd has dreams of becoming a star
Ms Todd agreed with the prosecutor that she encouraged her son to tell her if he had received any messages, saying he would not be in trouble and it was for his safety. She testified that Amanda was frightened when she brought subsequent messages to her attention and increased anxiety with each message.
Carol Todd said Amanda felt she was being followed or stalked by a stranger.
She explained that Amanda took singing lessons and figured out at a young age how to record herself while singing and upload those videos to YouTube. This is the time when Justin Bieber became famous onlineshe said, and like many other young people, Amanda also wanted to be famous.
Ms Todd said that when Amanda stayed with her, internet access and her laptop were restricted.
Ms Kenworthy told the jury at the start of the trial on Monday that the Crown expected to present evidence and call witnesses to show that several accounts allegedly used to harass and threaten Amanda Todd were run by Aydin Coban, who was arrested by Dutch police. at his home in January 2014.
Dutch officers searched Aydin Coban’s home and seized a desktop computer, laptop and hard drive, he said, and forensic copies of the device’s contents were sent to police. RCMP in British Columbia.
An officer of RCMP who reviewed the material had to testify that they saw evidence of accounts allegedly used to harass Amanda Todd on one or more of the seized devices, he said.
The trial will also hear evidence of file names referring to the teenager, although the contents of those files are no longer visible, prosecutor Kenworthy said.
Seven weeks were allotted for this trial.
The Canadian Press
Source: Radio-Canada
