Dutchman on trial in cyberbully case

A man accused of a worldwide cyberbullying racket that got young girls to pose naked before blackmailing them went on trial yesterday in Amsterdam, saying he is innocent of the charges. The defendant Aydin C is suspected of forcing dozens of young women from as far as Britain, Canada, Norway and the United States into performing sex acts in front of their webcams.

"I deny all charges and will remain silent until my closing statement," a defiant Aydin C - identified only by his first name because of Dutch privacy rules - told judges at a high-security courthouse. The 38-year-old Dutchman faces 72 charges including computer sex crimes such as making and storing of child pornography, blackmail, fraud and hard drug possession, prosecutors said. Aydin C is also wanted for trial in Canada in the case of teen Amanda Todd who committed suicide in Oct 2012 after being tormented by an anonymous cyberbully.

Sexual acts

"He posed online as a young woman and established trust relationships with 34 young girls, eventually getting them to pose naked in front of a webcam," Dutch public prosecution service spokesman Lars Stempher told reporters outside the courtroom. Once Aydin C obtained the images, his tone changed and he would start to threaten the girls, telling them he would show the images to parents, relatives and school friends if they did not do as told. "This included performing sexual acts and in the end the girls became trapped in his web," Stempher said.

Five gay men - mainly in Australia - were also lured in, when Aydin C allegedly posed as a young boy and "eventually he threatened them that he would expose their sexuality, leading to blackmail". In one case, an amount of 1,000 euros ($1,100) was then paid into an account, the court heard. Aydin C used dozens of aliases like "Tyler Boo" and "Kelsy Rain" and employed different computer tricks, including a program to fool young girls into thinking they were chatting live to a girl of similar age.

Investigators found some 204,000 images on hard disks belonging to the accused, but prosecutors did not say what the images depicted. Aydin C, who leaned back in his chair during the hearing, his long greying hair slicked back behind his ears, did not respond to questions posed by the judge. He was arrested after Facebook rang alarm bells in 2013, telling Dutch police a "sextortionist" - somebody who uses sex to blackmail others - was at work in The Netherlands.

Teen suicide

— AFP