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Tag: amanda todd

  • Amanda Todd’s Cyber-Bully Arrested in the Netherlands

    After almost two years, a breakthrough in the case of Amanda Todd, the Canadian teen who was bullied to death over the internet, has been made. The Dutch police have made an arrest and filed charges against the man who they believe who targeted her until her suicide in 2012.

    CTV News posted a timeline of events concerning Todd’s suicide. Since the Royal Canadian Mounted Police opened the investigation in October of 2012, both federal and provincial governments of Canada have introduced and passed anti-cyber-bulling legislation. No updates on the case had been made until two days ago. On Thursday, the RCMP confirmed a Dutch man was facing charges of extortion and child pornography in regards to her case. Mother Carol Todd said it was what “we’ve been waiting for.”

    The suspect has been only identified as Aydin C. due to Dutch privacy laws. The Associated Press reported that he has dual nationality between Turkey and the Netherlands and was arrested in January at his vacation home in the town of Oisterwijk. Prosecutors stated that “the suspicions against the man are that he approached underage girls via the Internet and then seduced them into performing sexual acts in front of a webcam He is suspected of subsequently pressurizing them to participate in making new material.” They also suspected Aydin C. of blackmailing men in a similar way by posing as an underage boy.

    Defense Attorney Van Dijk said the prosecution lacks evidence for a conviction. The Canadian Press quoted him as saying “prosecutors seem to think they have a big fish here, but if I see the evidence, it’s not much. Lots of references to IP addresses and such.”

    Amanda Todd’s mother, Carol Todd, told CBC that she hopes this arrest will lead to others who were involved in the bullying: “There were multiple people in those chat rooms. So this would hopefully be the first layer of many layers that they could uncover.”

    Image via Current News Offical Channel, YouTube

  • Anonymous Hunts Down Alleged Bully That Pushed Teen To Suicide

    By now, the world is aware of Amanda Todd. The 15-year-old committed suicide after struggling with depression and being bullied. It was an unfortunate event that could have been avoided if more people had seen the warning signs and stepped in. Anonymous thinks that Todd’s case was special, however, and has tracked down the man they feel is responsible for her death.

    Anonymous is usually found targeting governments or corporations, but the group has recently turned to targeting online predators and pedophiles. The group posted a dox to pastebin yesterday that reveals the identity and address of who they claim extorted Todd for nude photographs. Those photographs were eventually leaked online, and Todd was soon subjected to bullying from the dark corners of the Internet.

    The bullying is most likely the main contributor to Todd’s death, but the original extortionist is the real villain in the eyes of Anonymous. The group issued a statement to CTV News after the network tracked down the alleged bully with the information provided:

    “We generally don’t like to deal with police first hand but were compelled to put our skills to good use protecting kids. Ironically we have some good people in Vancouver who brought this to our admin’s attention. It’s a very sad story that affects all of us.”

    As for the man accused by Anonymous for bullying Todd, he told CTV News that he knew Todd and thought of her as a friend. He also told the news network that he’s already cooperated with the Mounties by identifying a man who was harassing Todd.

    Anonymous can, and will, get things wrong. We can’t speak on the innocence or guilt of any person until formal charges are made. The investigation into Todd’s suicide is still ongoing with the Royal Mounties looking into any and all leads. For their part, Anonymous has started #OpRIP to hunt down those who bullied Todd.

    [h/t: Huffington Post]

  • Amanda Todd: Teen Still Bullied After Death

    Amanda Todd, 15, posted a video on YouTube in September featuring distressing comments about the fact that she was alone, bullied, and depressed. When no one responded, she turned to suicide.

    It all started when she was in the 7th grade and flashed the camera while one of her friends was taping; somehow, a photo of her topless got leaked on the web, and the bullying began. Todd talks about it in the video, and about crying every night out of desperation. Unfortunately, no one reached out to her afterward. She killed herself last week, and now her YouTube page and Facebook memorial pages which have been set up in her honor are receiving a host of ugly messages from those who are still intent on bullying the teen.

    The comments, which range from the cruel–a picture of a hanged girl which reads “Todding”–to the unsympathetic victim-blaming that seems rampant these days on the web, are garnering attention from those who set up the pages in Amanda’s honor.

    “You want to bully. Go for it — but the RCMP has set up an account for information on people who continue to bully her and it will be my pleasure to report you,” wrote one Facebook user.

    Fortunately, Todd’s page has received thousands of supporters and is opening up an awareness about bullying in several communities. But, officials say, those who are willing to bully a girl who has already taken her life won’t just stop there, and if they are caught, there will be consequences.

    “It’s really a matter of those who are involved in it to realize the impact of what they are doing and that they are bordering on criminal acts,” said RCMP Sergeant Peter Thiessen. “If we get that type of evidence then we would be quick to lay a charge.”