(New Westminster) A man convicted of multiple sex offenses against BC teenager Amanda Todd should be jailed for 6 years, not 12 as required by the Crown, his lawyer has said.
Posted on October 12th
Camille Bains The Canadian Press
Eliot Holzman told the BC Supreme Court that while Amanda Todd was injured, she was the only victim and her client’s actions were not as serious as others convicted in cases that resulted in lighter sentences.
Amanda Todd committed suicide at her home in Port Coquitlam on October 10, 2012, about five weeks after she posted a video of flashcards in which she said she had no one to talk to, suffered from anxiety and depression and had changed schools twice .
By that time she had endured more than two years of torture at the hands of Dutchman Aydin Coban, who sent Amanda Todd pornographic material to other children, adults and administrators at schools she attended.
While QC Louise Kenworthy said the agony Amanda Todd endured was a “dominant” cause of the girl’s suicide at age 15, Holzman disagreed.
“Our position is that there is insufficient evidence to prove this,” he said Wednesday.
He pointed to letters of support from Coban — one from his mother, another from his older sister, and a third from a friend — and noted that his client had no criminal record in Canada.
However, Coban has been in prison since 2014 and is currently serving a nearly 11-year sentence for 68 similar offenses in the Netherlands involving 33 girls, some as young as 9.
Coban, 44, was extradited to Canada to stand trial in the Todd case and was convicted in August of racketeering, communicating with a juvenile to commit a sex crime, possessing and distributing child pornography and attracting children.
Holzman said Coban was raised socially and the support of his family and friends bodes well for his reintegration into society.
Kenworthy described the man as unrepentant, at high risk of recidivism, unwilling to participate in a rehabilitation program and deserving of a longer sentence that reflects his crime and acts as a deterrent.
She said earlier Wednesday that Coban persuaded Amanda Todd to pose as a teenage boy and girl, then encouraged her to quickly show up for him before he distributed the photo and threatened to ruin her life if she didn’t do something pornographic make more material available.
The frequency and duration of sexual violence contributed to Amanda Todd’s mental health problems, substance abuse and school transfers, Kenworthy said.
The court heard that Amanda Todd realized her pictures would be on the internet forever and asked her classmates not to share them, but they were already widely shared.
Mr Kenworthy asked Judge Martha Devlin for a 12-year sentence to be served on top of Coban’s Dutch sentence.
However, Mr. Holzman pointed out that much of the sentence should be served at the same time.