Case file
Suicide of Amanda Todd
Documents suicide · sexual violence · crimes against children · violence — written to inform, not to shock.
Amanda Michelle Todd (November 27, 1996 – October 10, 2012) was a 15-year-old student in Port Coquitlam, British Columbia, who died by suicide at her home. A month before her death, she posted a YouTube video using flashcards to describe being blackmailed into exposing her breasts on a webcam via the livestreaming service BlogTV, and being bullied and physically assaulted afterward. The video went viral after her death and drew international media attention. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) and the British Columbia Coroners Service opened investigations into her death and the circumstances leading to it.
According to the video and Wikipedia's account, Todd was blackmailed after a stranger she met via webcam saved a captured image of her and threatened to distribute it unless she performed further acts on camera. Police informed her in 2010 that the photo was circulating online. Todd changed schools multiple times as the image resurfaced, was physically assaulted by a group of peers, and attempted suicide by drinking bleach before her death; she also engaged in self-harm and was hospitalized after an overdose. She died on October 10, 2012; a preliminary investigation by the BC Coroners Service found her death to be suicide by hanging, though the official cause was not formally released in some reporting.
The Canadian tipline Cybertip.ca had received a report about circulating images of Todd roughly a year before her death, which was passed to law enforcement and child welfare agencies. A CBC investigative program later reported that the RCMP had been informed Todd was being sextorted by an adult male but told the family there was "nothing that could be done." A Facebook security investigation eventually helped identify a suspect; following cooperation between UK, US, and Dutch authorities, Dutch police arrested a man in January 2014 in a case involving multiple victims across the Netherlands, UK, and Canada. In April 2014, Dutch authorities charged the man—identified as "Aydin C." under Dutch privacy rules—with indecent assault and child pornography offenses, and the RCMP announced charges of extortion, internet luring, criminal harassment, and child pornography offenses related to Todd and other victims.
The man, Aydin Coban, was convicted in the Netherlands in 2017 on charges involving 39 other alleged victims (not including Todd) and sentenced to over 10 years. He was extradited to Canada, with the process delayed by travel-document issues until December 2020. His trial in the Supreme Court of British Columbia began June 6, 2022. On August 5, 2022, a jury convicted him on all counts related to Todd. On October 14, 2022, he was sentenced to 13 years in prison, with the judge citing the sophistication of the extortion scheme, the wide distribution of Todd's images, and his lack of remorse. On December 21, 2023, a Dutch judge reduced this sentence to six years, to run consecutively with his existing Dutch sentence.
Todd's death led to public vigils across Canada and internationally, a parliamentary motion on bullying, and the creation of the Amanda Todd Trust by her mother, Carol Todd, to fund anti-bullying and youth mental health initiatives.
Key facts
- Victims
- Amanda Todd
- Date
- 2012
- Location
- Port Coquitlam, British Columbia, Canada
- Case status
- solved
Case timeline
2009
Todd, then in 7th grade, began using video chat to meet new people online around the time she moved in with her father.
2010-12
Police informed Todd that a topless photo of her was circulating online, according to her video account.
2012-09-07
Todd posted a 9-minute YouTube video titled 'My story: Struggling, bullying, suicide, self-harm' describing her experiences.
2012-10-10
Todd's body was found hanging at her home in Port Coquitlam, British Columbia; a preliminary coroner's investigation found the death to be suicide.
2012-10-19
Vigils were held across Canada and internationally to remember Todd and other victims of bullying.
2012-11-18
600 people gathered at a farewell ceremony for Todd in Coquitlam.
2013-11
Justice Minister Peter MacKay introduced Bill C-13, anti-cyberbullying and revenge-porn legislation, partly in response to Todd's case.
2014-01
Dutch police arrested a suspect in a case involving multiple victims in the Netherlands, UK, and Canada, following a Facebook security investigation.
2014-04
Dutch authorities charged the suspect, identified as 'Aydin C.', with indecent assault and possession of child pornography; RCMP announced Canadian charges of extortion, internet luring, criminal harassment, and child pornography offenses related to Todd.
2015-03
Bill C-13 went into effect in Canada on March 9, 2015.
2017-02
Aydin Coban's trial on Dutch charges involving 39 other alleged victims began.
2017-03-16
Coban's Dutch trial concluded with conviction on charges of internet fraud and blackmail; he was sentenced to 10 years and 8 months.
2020-12
Coban was extradited to Canada after delays in obtaining travel documents.
2022-06-06
Coban's trial began in the Supreme Court of British Columbia on charges related to Todd.
2022-08-05
A jury found Coban guilty on all counts related to Todd.
2022-10-14
Coban was sentenced to 13 years in prison by the presiding judge.
2023-12-21
A Dutch judge reduced Coban's sentence for crimes against Todd to six years, to be served consecutively to an 11-year sentence for other victims.
Best coverage
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People
Aydin Coban
CONVICTEDConvicted by a Canadian jury on August 5, 2022, on all charges of extortion, internet luring, criminal harassment, and child pornography offenses related to Amanda Todd; sentenced to 13 years in prison in Canada (later reduced to six years by a Dutch court for the Todd-related offenses). Also separately convicted in the Netherlands in 2017 on charges involving 39 other alleged victims.
citation on file
Amanda Todd
VICTIM15-year-old student who was sexually extorted and cyberbullied before dying by suicide in October 2012.
citation on file
Places
Common questions
- What happened to the victim?
- Amanda Todd, a 15-year-old Canadian student, died by suicide in 2012 after being sexually extorted online and subjected to prolonged cyberbullying; a Dutch-Turkish man, Aydin Coban, was later convicted in Canada of extortion and related charges against her.
- Where did the crime happen?
- Port Coquitlam, British Columbia, Canada.
- Who was convicted?
- Aydin Coban (Convicted by a Canadian jury on August 5, 2022, on all charges of extortion, internet luring, criminal harassment, and child pornography offenses related to Amanda Todd; sentenced to 13 years in prison in Canada (later reduced to six years by a Dutch court for the Todd-related offenses). Also separately convicted in the Netherlands in 2017 on charges involving 39 other alleged victims.).
- What is the current status of the case?
- Status: solved.
Sources
- Suicide of Amanda Toddwikipedia · Wikipedia · 2026-07-07
- Contemporaneous coverage — CBC Newsnews · CBC News · 2026-07-07
- Contemporaneous coverage — CTV Newsnews · CTV News · 2026-07-07
