EXCLUSIVE: The Mounties Who Handled Amanda Todd's Case Speak for the First Time

This is a conversation that, more than a decade later, remains "as clear as the day" for the retired RCMP Const. Andrea Shadek.

"I never forgot Amanda, but you put it somewhere else. You put it in the back of your mind. And about a month I didn't realize I had it until I testified before, and then I felt it," Shadek told Global News in an interview. "I felt very protective of her, but I had no power to protect her." One of the few officers in charge of the case, he actually met the teenage girl before her death in 2012.

READ MORE: "SUR": Amanda Todd's Mother Says Sextortionist Convicted, Fight Still Over

Saturday, nearly a decade later, aBC jury found Dutch citizen Aydin Covan guilty of five counts.

In November 2011, teenage Todd was in the middle of a fourth wave of aggressive harassment. , Shadek met Todd.

On a transfer to the Coquitlam RCMP's sex crimes department, she accompanied her co-workers to Todd's father's house to talk about internet safety and urge her to quit her harassing Facebook. tried to persuade was happening.

READ MORE: Amanda Todd's Trial: Crown Uncovers Links Between "Sextortion" Messages Accused in Closing Arguments Pull out

At first things didn't go well. The 14-year-old at the time appeared "rebellious and disrespectful." Her affairs heated up and Todd burst into her own room and slammed her door.

After waiting a few minutes for the teenagers to calm down, Shadek was able to knock on Todd's door and go inside. Todd was sitting on the bed with the girl.

"I found a completely different child in that room," she said.

"I just started talking to her and explained why we wanted her to stay off the internet and how difficult it is when the internet is so popular." she added.

"I asked her, why do you keep creating all these profiles and why do you keep adding people you don't know in real life?" '"

Because this conversation was so powerful , Schadeck gave the teenage girl a personal phone number, something she had never done before in her police career.

Shadeck gave Todd The girl took her life less than a year after meeting her at the hands of online blackmailers who became a rallying cry in the online child safety movement before she died. Posted a YouTube video describing the affliction of the 1980s that went viral

Investigation stalled

Mount had been investigating the case for nearly a year at the time of the meeting, but Shadek said the RCMP seemed unable to do anything about the harassment.

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"The problem wasn't the evidence. The problem was that we didn't know who was doing it," she said.

READ MORE: Amanda Todd feared lifelong blackmail, Crown told jury

According to RCMP Shadek, the protocol was to refer such cases to BC. Integrated Child Exploitation or Tech Crime Unit. This was already done.

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"They said, 'He's really good at what he does, masks his IP address, We have no way of knowing who is doing this, he could be here in Coquitlam, he could be on the other side of the world," she said.

instead, local investigators were encouraged to discuss Internet safety with Todd and her family, she said. Her immediate superior told her that if there was nothing the specialized unit could do, the local detachment could do nothing else, she added.

"I fully trusted them to have the skills and training to deal with this sort of thing. It would have been the first time in my career and I think I was shocked and upset," she said.

Read more: 'I heard a screech': Amanda Todd's mother said her B.A. C.

Shadek said she did not hold enough status to know why the training and technology to track Covan did not exist at the time. Stated. These tools may have improved over the next decade, she added. But she said she still feels the system has let the teenage family down.

"The responsibility is now back on the Todd family," she said.

In a statement, RCMP spokesman Sgt. Chris Mansoor said: ICE worked extensively with the Coquitlam RCMP on Amanda's case before her death. Global News awaits further details from her Mounties.

Finally, Schadeck believes that Todd himself was responsible for the chain of events that led to Coban's eventual arrest.

"If she had just committed suicide and she hadn't taken that video, she might have faded into the background and Coban could have escaped it," she said. "That's why I think she's a hero. I think she had the courage to do what the adults around her couldn't do."

Schadeck said the video "excited everyone" and the investigation was reopened.

Still he was over a year old until January 2014 when Dutch police arrested Covan at his Dutch villa. It takes.

A Dutch court would convict him in 2018 of a number of crimes, including extortion against 33 of his people from several countries. While Cobain was on trial in British Columbia, a publication ban prevented the Canadian media from reporting details of the case.

Just a little girl

Ten years later, Shadek, now the mother of her two children, finds Amanda her She said that Todd's story had an impact on her. Harder.

At Coban's trial, the court heard extensive details about Todd's online activities.

Read more: Teenager Amanda Todd Pleads Not Guilty

She Posts Singing Video There were issues that ranged from harmless, like wanting to be the next Justin Bieber, to dangerous, like she once exposed her breasts. Posts in her online chat room, and how someone recorded the clip, later fell prey to her harassment.

Jury finds Todd appears uncooperative with police and logs off from the Internet, from family and his RCMP I heard testimony about their reluctance to remove some. Her more than 1,000 of her Facebook friends.

Todd She was just 12 years old when her harassment began. She was 15 when she died.Shadek said people need to be able to put themselves in her shoes.

"I think it's important for people to remember how we felt about our parents and authority figures when we were teenagers, but what we want people to know is I mean, she was kind and respectful. Disrespectful," she said.

"And most of all, I want her to remember that she was just a little girl. She was not responsible for what happened to her," she said through tears. added.

Todd's case, in the Internet age, forces teenagers to simply stay away from social media It highlights that it is "ridiculous" to try. Most of her interactions with her peers are happening now, she said.

READ MORE: Parents Warn About Sextortion Targeting Teenagers Worldwide

Instead, she said parents need to be involved enough in their online lives, the apps they use, and most importantly, have open and honest conversations.

"You must remember that we were teenagers. None of us liked being told what to do. We all knew our parents were stupid." You have to remember the mindset of teenagers and speak openly, honestly, on their level," she said.

"And hopefully, if you love your children enough, they will know they shouldn't be involved in these things.

— Using files from Lumina Daya

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