Thursday, July 9, 2026
ADVT 
National

Crown begins closing in B.C. extortion trial

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 26 Jul, 2022 12:25 PM
  • Crown begins closing in B.C. extortion trial

Crown and defence counsel have finished calling evidence in the British Columbia Supreme Court trial for the Dutch man accused of harassing and extorting teenager Amanda Todd before she died a decade ago.

Aydin Coban pleaded not guilty at the jury trial in New Westminster to charges of extortion, harassment, communication with a young person to commit a sexual offence and possessing child pornography.

Crown attorney Kristen LeNoble began closing arguments by telling jurors she would spend the next few days helping them "unpack" the evidence, including testimony from more than 30witnesses and binders full of 80 exhibits.

By the time the Crown is finished, LeNoble says they will have proven beyond a reasonable doubt that Coban was the person behind 22 separate online aliases used to harass and extort Todd with child pornography that depicted her.

LeNoble says Todd's harassment began just before her 13th birthday when she received a message that threatened to send a video of her to friends, family and local media.

Crown prosecutor Louise Kenworthy told the jury at the start of the trial last month that the teenager from Port Coquitlam, B.C., had been the victim of a persistent campaign of online "sextortion" over three years before her death in October 2012.

Carol Todd testified that her daughter was scared when she brought messages to her mother's attention, and Amanda's distress increased with each incident.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 26, 2022.

MORE National ARTICLES

785 COVID19 cases for Wednesday

785 COVID19 cases for Wednesday
B.C. added 785 new COVID-19 cases for Wednesday. There have now been 166,853 cases of COVID-19 in B.C. since the pandemic began, as well as 1,818 related deaths.

785 COVID19 cases for Wednesday

Threatening note received at Langley Islamic Center

Threatening note received at Langley Islamic Center
Investigators have engaged the BC Hate Crime Unit and INSET (Integrated National Security Enforcement Team) to collaborate and are endeavouring to identify the author of the note and following all investigative avenues in this investigation.

Threatening note received at Langley Islamic Center

Burnaby RCMP ask for public assistance in identifying a suspect that may have been involved in3 unprovoked assaults

Burnaby RCMP ask for public assistance in identifying a suspect that may have been involved in3 unprovoked assaults
On Monday, August 30, at approximately 1:40 p.m., an unknown man approached a 25-year-old woman and wrestled her to the ground in the area of Edmonds Street and Canada Way. It’s believed the victim may have been followed for a short distance.    

Burnaby RCMP ask for public assistance in identifying a suspect that may have been involved in3 unprovoked assaults

Two children involved in Vancouver coyote attacks

Two children involved in Vancouver coyote attacks
Conservation officers are patrolling the park and the service says it's working with provincial wildlife biologists to determine how to manage the animals.

Two children involved in Vancouver coyote attacks

Can we reach herd immunity with COVID-19?

Can we reach herd immunity with COVID-19?
Herd immunity refers to having enough people within a community protected from a virus or pathogen, either through natural infection or vaccination, that transmission becomes unlikely.

Can we reach herd immunity with COVID-19?

Evacuation orders due to B.C. wildfires drop

Evacuation orders due to B.C. wildfires drop
The emergency operations centre for the central Okanagan says assessments of neighbourhoods directly affected by the 830-square-kilometre White Rock Lake fire along the western banks of Okanagan Lake should be complete by Thursday.

Evacuation orders due to B.C. wildfires drop