Amanda Todd case: Crown argues only 1 'sextortionist' behind messages sent to teen, others

On the third day of the Crown's closing arguments at the trial of Aydin Coban, prosecutor Marcel Daigle argued similarities noted by Crown in messages sent to Port Coquitlam teen Amanda Todd and to people in her life from different online accounts were "not a coincidence."

“There is an overwhelming amount of similarities and cohesion between these aliases,” Daigle said, referring to 15 online usernames the Crown says were used over the course of four separate extortion episodes.

“These were one person. We would not, of course, be seeing these kinds of similarities if these were different people all operating on their own and extorting Amanda Todd.”

Some of the examples used by Daigle included multiple accounts using what he argued were similar language and sentence structure in their messages, including versions of the phrase: “Amanda is showing herself naked.”

He also argued more than one account made references to past episodes involving sextortion, in particular about Todd having to change schools. Daigle also told the jury more than one account seemed to target messages about the teen to Facebook users with the last name Todd, and in some cases the same family members received messages repeatedly.

“This is not coincidental,” Daigle argued. “We see this because it’s one person. It’s, in my suggestion, an affront on our common sense to suggest otherwise.”

At some points during Daigle’s submissions, Coban appeared to be shaking his head. The Dutch citizen has pleaded not guilty to extortion, harassment, child luring, and possession of child pornography. His defence counsel did not end up calling any evidence in the trial, but previously said the case was about whether the Crown could prove who was behind the messages sent to Todd.

CROWN ALLEGES CONNECTIONS

On Thursday afternoon, prosecutor Heather Guinn alleged a Skype account with the same name as an account the Crown said had previously contacted Todd was operated by the accused.

Guinn said the Skype account was named “kelseyrain2”.

On Tuesday, prosecutor Kristen LeNoble said a Skype account named “kelseyrain2” communicated with Todd in July 2011, at one point asking the teen: “In the mood for sum cam stufff? ;p”.

Guinn told the jury the crown argues there is evidence linking the “kelseyrain2” Skype account with a couple of Facebook accounts, including one called “Kelsey Melsey”. She said the “Kelsey Melsey” account sent messages asking people to add them on Skype, and then provided the account name “kelseyrain2”.

Guinn went on to tell the court a mobile phone number they allege belonged to Coban was associated to the “Kelsey Melsey” Facebook account.

She said two witnesses testified about being given the same number while looking for an apartment in Rotterdam in May 2011, and later received a copy of a passport photo of the person they say they met there. Guinn said the Crown alleges the photo is of Coban.

Guinn said an expert witness testified that on July 26, 2011, Facebook sent a text message to the mobile number.

“The person who had that number, and received that text message, entered a code from the message to confirm that they had access to that phone as well as to the Kelsey Melsey account,” Guinn said. “The operator of the Kelsey Melsey account was the person with that phone number. We say that this was Aydin Coban’s phone number.”

Guinn later stated: “Given the connections and links that I have explored, this can only mean that Mr. Coban operated kelseyrain2”.

The Crown’s theory is one person with 22 phony accounts tried to use explicit images of the teen to get her to perform sex acts online, and when she would not comply, would send links to family, friends, and others. Todd died by suicide in 2012 at the age of 15, after posting a video online outlining years of torment.

CHILD PORNOGRAPHY CHARGES 

Daigle also addressed the possession of child pornography charges, and brought up the Facebook account named “Austin Collins,” which the court heard had used a topless photo of the teen as its profile picture in 2011. Daigle said to upload a photo as a profile picture, a person must have that file on their digital device.

“If you accept my submission that there was one sextortionist,” Daigle said. “Then this is evidence, this one photo. This is sufficient evidence of possession, to conclude the sextortionist had child pornography in their possession.”

He argued other messages from other accounts indicated they had video of the teen, including one telling her they were playing her “flash videos…non-stop” on a web-cam based site.

Daigle told the jury while the court has heard testimony that no videos of Todd were found on devices seized after Coban’s arrest in 2014, “we’re not alleging he was in possession of these materials in 2014. We are saying he had them earlier, while this sextortion was happening.”

Daigle then referred to testimony regarding a playlist found on a hard drive seized from a bungalow in the Netherlands where Coban was arrested, which included a video file with “Amanda Todd” in its name.

During that testimony, the court heard the words appeared more than once connected to file names listed on the drive.

Daigle told the jury multiple devices that were seized also had deletion software.

The final portion of the Crown’s closing arguments will begin on Friday. The trial heard seven weeks of witness testimony prior to the start of closing arguments.