Warning: Content in this story may be disturbing; reader discretion is advised.
A digital forensics officer with B.C.’s RCMP returned to the stand on Tuesday (July 12) to talk about connections he made between electronic devices seized from a Dutch residence and computers used by Port Coquitlam student Amanda Todd.
Sgt. Keith Hack told Justice Martha Devlin and the jury how he used high-tech software tools to uncover social media accounts, as well as deleted data, on numerous systems as part of his investigation.
The Crown witness told the BC Supreme Court in New Westminster he recovered online activities related to the accounts named marzattack, Tomas Coco Pops, whatsthisman11, toddtit and others plus the email addresses of amandat0dd, kelseyrain and others via the apps Skype, Facebook and Messenger used on virtual machines.
In a recovered message on Skype between cutiielover — Todd’s Skype and BlogTV account name — and a user named redwrench, their chat dates back to Dec. 4, 2009, when Todd was 13.
She wrote on the chat, “and now he found my Skype and look,” to which redwrench responded, “last chance or I start sending the videos to everyone in your facebook, school and newspaper in ur city. try me if u wanna…”
Hack testified he found metadata on a Dutch device associated with the toddtit account that was created about a year later, on Nov. 18, 2010. The next day, toddtit requested a Skype connection with Todd, the court heard.
Toddtit wrote, “There is this video of you flashing tits on BlogTV.”
The user asked if Todd’s family and friends had seen it, to which Todd replied, “send me that video :(“
“You look cute,” toddtit wrote.
“what do you want me to [do],” she asked.
“you know what,” toddtit responded with a tongue-out emoji.
Later in the chat, toddtit wrote, “once a week we just do fun stuff on cam is all.”
When Todd resisted, the chat reads, toddtit taunted her that private information about her would be sent to her dad, school and friends.
“I don’t care,” she wrote.
“Don’t forget you gave me permission to send now,” toddtit wrote.
“No, I didn’t,” Todd shot back.
“Ignoring aint gonna solve this,” toddtit wrote later in the Skype chat.
Hack also gave evidence about a deleted Facebook account named Alice McAllister that he retrieved on a Dutch device, as well as digital data from social media accounts named Kody Maxson, door1ordoor2, Miranda Todd, Tyler Boo and Marc Cameron, among others.
In her opening address, lead prosecutor Louise Kenworthy said the Crown will prove Aydin Coban was behind 22 fake accounts in a “persistent campaign of online sextortion” against Todd.
Coban, of The Netherlands, is charged with
- extortion
- importing and distributing child pornography
- possession of child pornography
- communicating with the intent to lure a child
- criminal harassment
None of the allegations is proven in court.
The seven-week trial continues.
