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The Dutch man convicted of harassing and extorting B.C. teen Amanda Todd has now been returned to the Netherlands.
Aydin Coban was sentenced to 13 years in prison in mid-October.
Coban was sent back to the Netherlands on Nov. 24 where he will continue serving a nearly 11-year sentence imposed by a Dutch court in 2017.
He was originally extradited to Canada in 2020.
Now that he is back in his home country, the Netherlands Public Prosecution Service said a conversion hearing will take place to determine how much of Coban’s Canadian sentence could be served at home.
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Last week, Amanda’s mother, Carol Todd, said she feared Coban won’t serve the full sentence, but the process is in the hands of the Dutch court now.
“We can only wait and see what happens when he returns and he goes through the sentence conversion hearing that will happen in the Netherlands,” she said.
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Coban’s sentence relating to his previous Dutch charges is due to expire in Aug. 2024.
READ MORE: Amanda Todd trial – guilty verdict on five charges for Aydin Coban
“When I hear the part where he may not get any prison time, it frustrates me, I get all those feelings of grief when I lost Amanda, so the anger, the frustration, the sadness, the feeling he’s going to be out on the streets eventually, that’s scary for me,” Todd said.
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“On the other hand, Amanda’s trial has set case precedent in Canada, whereby trials moving forward on exploitation and cases similar to Amanda’s, the bar has been set higher for criminals to be convicted and sentenced, so that’s the good part and I always remember that part.”
Amanda Todd was 15 years old when she died by suicide in October 2012 after Coban had harassed and sexually blackmailed her over a period of several years.
His Canadian trial heard that he sent her nearly 700 messages between 2009 and 2012, some from accounts meant to befriend and collect information about her, and others used to attack and extort her.
Coban obtained a topless video clip of the young teen and used it as leverage to try and force her to perform webcam sex “shows,” and followed through on threats to send it to her friends, family and school community when she refused.
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Weeks before her death, she recorded a YouTube video in which she silently held up cue cards documenting her abuse. The video went viral and became a symbol in the fight against online harassment.
Todd said her daughter would have turned 26 years old over the weekend.
– with files from Global News’ Simon Little and Rumina Daya
