The Canadian judge is considering the sentence for the Dutch webcam extortioner Aydin C. Last week the last pleas in the case surrounding the extortion of Amanda Todd were pronounced. The teenage girl took her own life in 2012, because a nude photo had haunted her for years. This is what has happened so far.
The case of fifteen-year-old Amanda Todd became world news in 2012. That was because of a nine-minute video that the Canadian teen had put online just before her death.
In that video, Todd tells her story using cards with lyrics on them. It can be read that she was blackmailed for years with a photo of her breasts. He turned her into a man when they were webcamming. Partly because of that photo, she was bullied and abused by classmates for years.
The video was shared many times after Todd’s suicide in October 2012. The world was shocked. Todd quickly became the face of sextortion, a form of blackmail in which a blackmailer threatens to put someone’s nude images online.
In January 2014, the Dutch police arrested a suspect: Aydin C. from Tilburg. He was handcuffed at a holiday park in Oisterwijk.
The police caught sight of C. after a tip from Facebook. He had a large number of profiles on the social media network. The case turned out to be bigger than just Todd: By placing spyware on his computers, the police saw C. blackmail dozens of people online. They also found child pornography.
Carol Todd holds a photo of her daughter Amanda Todd.
Carol Todd holds a photo of her daughter Amanda Todd. Photo: Alamy Limited
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C. appeared in court in the Netherlands in 2018, who sentenced him to ten years and 243 days in prison. That is the highest possible punishment he could receive.
According to the court, C. was guilty of digital stalking and extortion of 33 people. Among them were dozens of underage girls, a woman and five men from the Netherlands, Norway, England, the United States and Canada. The youngest girls were only nine years old when C. started talking to them.
C. was also convicted of making and distributing child pornography, fraud, identity theft, computer trespassing and possession of drugs.
During the trial it was noticed that C. refused to speak. “All I want to say is that everything has already been said by my lawyer,” C. said at the end of the case. The Tilburger previously denied in a letter to, among others, RTL News to be responsible. His lawyers therefore demanded acquittal. But the court did not agree.
C. has not yet been convicted in the Todd case, because Canada wants to prosecute him for it. But it took a while before C. could be extradited to Canada. His lawyer did not agree that C. should be in Canada. Ultimately, the Supreme Court decided in 2017 that this was allowed. There is, however, the condition that C. can serve his sentence imposed by Canada in the Netherlands. C. withdrew his opposition in 2019 by not appealing in cassation.
In 2020 C. was extradited to Canada. That was on suspicion of sexual offenses and extortion of Todd, not in connection with her death.
The case against C began in Canada in early June. According to Canadian prosecutors, he used as many as 22 different accounts on multiple social media platforms. With that, he harassed Todd for about three years. C. says he is innocent, although a phone number, photo and video include him left aan Todd.
Now, nearly ten years after Todd’s death, C. learns how much he is guilty of blackmailing the girl. According to his lawyer, there is “no doubt that Amanda Todd was the victim of many crimes”. “This case is about who was behind it.”
It is not yet clear when the judge will rule.
Are you thinking about suicide? You are not alone. Contact 113 Suicide Prevention at www.113.nl or call 113 (local rate) or 0800-0113 (free).
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