The mother of a B.C. teen who was harassed and extorted by a Dutch man before taking her own life over a decade ago says she’s satisfied he’s been sentenced to six more years in prison.
“I’m good with this,” Carol Todd told Global News, Thursday.
Todd’s 15-year-old daughter Amanda Todd became a household name after a video she made documenting her abuse at the hands of an anonymous, online blackmailer went viral shortly before she died by suicide.
In July, a B.C. Supreme Court judge sentenced Coban to 13 years in prison for tormenting the teen. However that sentence was subject to a conversion under Dutch law. Coban is already serving a 10-year, eight-month Dutch sentence for similar crimes involving 33 other victims.
On Thursday, the Amsterdam District Court announced it would extend his prison time by six years, as a conversion of the Canadian sentence.
“I am happy with the six years,” Todd said. “I was going into this thinking zero because that’s what we’ve been hearing that the Dutch courts might do.”
Coban’s lawyer has indicated he will appeal the decision to the Dutch Supreme Court.
Coban was extradited to Canada in 2020 to face the Canadian charges in Amanda’s case, on the condition his sentence would be served in the Netherlands.
Dutch prosecutors had argued he should be given a 4.5-year Dutch sentence, in line with guidelines in the Netherlands and the tougher conditions in Canadian jail.
Coban’s lawyer argued the Canadian sentence was “exorbitantly high, even by Canadian standards” and said he shouldn’t be given any extra jail time. He also criticized Canadian authorities for releasing Coban’s name and photo, forever linking him to the crime.
Thursday’s decision didn’t take into account his time served in Canada and sentenced him to the maximum possible six years.
Todd said she had mentally prepared herself for the likelihood he would appeal.
“Thirteen years, six years, it won’t bring Amanda back. But her story is going to help others, and it is going to help save lives,” she said. “The 13 years Amanda got in the Canadian trial, it has set legal precedence in courts for other predators who may come on trial for child exploitation, so the bar is set at 13 years, it will never change. That’s a good thing, because our bar was set lower.”
At Coban’s B.C. trial, the court heard how he had obtained a video clip of her topless, then used it as ammunition to try and sexually blackmail her into performing sex shows on webcam.
The 12-member jury heard how Coban sent nearly 700 messages from numerous fake email and social media accounts, some to befriend her and extract more information, and others to harass and intimidate her over three years.
Coban ultimately followed through on threats to send nude images of the teen to family, friends and her school community, prompting further local bullying.
The court heard how the abuse transformed Amanda from a vibrant girl who loved singing to an anxious, depressed teen who feared the abuse would continue for the rest of her life.
Just weeks before her death in 2012, she created a YouTube video where she silently held up cue cards documenting the torment she suffered and its effect on her life. The video went viral and became a symbol in the fight against online harassment.
“I can’t stay angry. I can get sad, but this is going to push out more change and awareness and conversation and the main goal is to keep our kids safe,” the teen’s mother said Thursday.
“I don’t call it closure. I call it the end to a chapter, and another one will start.”
-With files from the Canadian Press