RCMP Insp. Paulette Freill reads a statement during a news conference in regards to charges against a Dutch man in relation to the death of Amanda Todd, in Surrey, B.C., on Thursday April 17, 2014. A 35-year-old man alleged to be involved with the online extortion of her 15-year-old daughter, who committed suicide in 2012, was arrested in the Netherlands.The Canadian Press
Canadian authorities are set to begin extradition proceedings against the 35-year-old Dutch man arrested in connection with the cyberharassment that led to the death of British Columbia teenager Amanda Todd, according to officials in the Netherlands.
Canada will begin extradition proceedings "so that the man may face the court linked with the Amanda Todd case," Dutch national prosecution spokesman Paul van der Zanden told Agence France-Presse.
On Thursday, Coquitlam RCMP Inspector Paulette Friel confirmed the man's arrest and announced five charges against him for online luring, extortion and child pornography.
Canadian authorities have indicated they will seek extradition.
According to the suspect's lawyer, quoted by a Dutch news agency, the man has requested a trial in the Netherlands and will fight his extradition.
While he is protected by strict Dutch privacy laws, local media have identified the suspect as Aydin C.
Holding dual Dutch and Turkish citizenship, he was arrested at his home in the vacation town of Oisterwijk in the Netherlands in January.
Ms. Todd was only 15 years old when she took her own life. Her death attracted international attention due to a nine-minute video she posted to YouTube depicting her struggle with online torment and blackmail. The Grade 10 student hanged herself a month after the video was posted.
Canadian authorities linked the man to Ms. Todd's case within weeks of her death. The RCMP found an online history where he is said to have posted compromising photos of the native of Port Coquitlam, B.C., online after she refused to "flash" her breasts at him.
Police have linked the man to similar child pornography cases in the United States, the United Kingdom and Norway.
Inspector Bob Resch, the head of the RCMP's National Child Exploitation Co-ordination Centre, said the man victimized several other underage women in Canada in addition to Ms. Todd.
Extradition could be complicated if authorities in the three other countries where victims have been identified also lay charges. Due to Ms. Todd's death, Canadian authorities could be at the front of the queue after the suspect works his way through the Dutch court system.
Justin Giovannetti