Carol Todd worries Dutch man who harassed daughter Amanda may not serve sentence
Carol Todd is worried the Dutch man convicted of harassing and extorting her teenage daughter, Amanda, who later died by suicide, may not serve any of the 13-year sentence handed to him by a British Columbia court.
Todd says she knew at the start of the B.C. Supreme Court trial for Aydin Coban last June that his sentence would be converted once he returned to the Netherlands.
But Todd says it wasn't until a Dutch reporter contacted her after Coban was convicted in August that she learned he may not serve the Canadian sentence because a Dutch court had already handed him a maximum term for similar crimes committed around the time he was harassing Amanda.
Coban was sentenced to nearly 11 years in2014 for crimes involving more than 30 youth, and in 2017 he was extradited to Canada to face charges in relation to Amanda, including extortion, harassment and distribution of child pornography.
An information sheet by the Netherlands' Ministry of Justice says Dutch prisoners sent home after being sentenced abroad can either have prison terms commuted to the term they would have received in the Netherlands, or it would be continued and served out in full.
But it says a continued sentence “may never exceed the maximum sentence for the relevant crime in the Netherlands.”
'HEARTBREAKING'
Todd says the Dutch reporter spoke with lawyers who said Dutch law also stipulates when someone is convicted and sentenced, then found guilty of the same kind of offence in the same time period, the existing punishment applies.
She says it's “heartbreaking” to know Coban may not spend any of his Canadian sentence behind bars, but she reminds herself the trial has served a “good purpose” in Canadian law by setting a precedent for sentencing those who exploit children online.
Over the course of Coban's nine-week trial in B.C., the court heard he used 22 aliases to harass Amanda over two years, starting when she was 12 years old.
The trial heard Coban made good on his threats to send photos of Amanda exposing her breasts to her friends, family and school administrators unless she complied with his demands to perform sexual “shows” in front of a web camera.
Amanda was 15 when she took her own life in October 2012 in her Port Coquitlam, B.C., home, weeks after posting a video using flash cards to describe being tormented by an online predator.
Delivering the sentence on Oct. 14, Justice Martha Devlin said she had heard Amanda's voice.
“I have considered Amanda's words as expressed through her video and through messages she sent when she was alive,” Devlin told the court.
“She could not escape the images or videos. It was a 'never-ending story,”' she said, quoting fom Todd's description of her ordeal in the video.
Todd says her daughter would have turned 26 this weekend, just as Coban is set to be transported back to his country to serve the remainder of his existing sentence.
The trial heard he must be taken back within 45 days of his Canadian sentencing, which falls next week, and as of Wednesday, the Department of Justice says he had not been returned.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 24, 2022
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Security guard shot, seriously injured outside of Drake's Toronto mansion
A security guard working at Drake’s Bridle Path mansion in Toronto was seriously injured in a shooting outside the residence early Tuesday morning, police said.
King Charles too busy to see son Prince Harry during U.K. trip
Prince Harry will not be seeing his father King Charles during his current visit to Britain as the monarch will be too busy, Harry's spokesperson said on Tuesday.
Your body needs these three forms of movement every week
Movement is movement, right? Not exactly. Here’s what your body is looking for in addition to your morning walk or yoga session, according to experts.
'It looked so legit': Ontario man pays $7,700 for luxury villa found on Booking.com, but the listing was fake
An Ontario man says he paid more than $7,700 for a luxury villa he found on a popular travel website -- but the listing was fake.
Canadian cadets rock mullets and place second at U.S. military competition
Sporting mullets, Canadian Armed Forces officer cadets placed second in an annual military skills competition in the U.S.
The Met Gala was in full bloom with Zendaya, Jennifer Lopez, Mindy Kaling among the standout stars
The Met Gala and its fashionista A-listers on Monday included Jennifer Lopez, Zendaya and a parade of others in a swirl of flora and fauna looks on a green-tinged carpet lined by live foliage.
Quebec to limit sperm donations per donor after 3 men from same family father hundreds of children
Quebec is looking at tightening the regulations around sperm donation in the province following the release of a documentary that revealed three men from the same family fathered hundreds of children.
How to overcome 'savings guilt' when you're living paycheque to paycheque
As the higher cost of living continues to squeeze household budgets, many Canadians find they have even less left over at the end of every month to squirrel away for the future.
There's actually no such thing as vegetables. Here's why you should eat them anyway
The rumours are true: Vegetables aren't real — that is, in botany, anyway. While the term fruit is recognized botanically as anything that contains a seed or seeds, vegetable is actually a broad umbrella term.