Anonymous outs bully they claim drove Amanda Todd to suicide, mum says leave her family alone
By Jenni Ryall news.com.au October 17, 2012 4:21PM
UPDATE: The mother of the man accused online of bullying Amanda Todd before her suicide has told the public to leave her son alone.
Hacker group Anonymous released personal details of the man it claims posted topless pictures of a 15-year-old girl online and harassed her so mercilessly she committed suicide.
The leak prompted a vigilante internet campaign to bring the accused harasser to justice, which his mother claims is causing the family extreme grief.
Amanda Todd, from Vancouver, Canada, was found hanged in her home on October 10, weeks after she uploaded a video to YouTube that describes - via a series of note cards - her treatment at the hands of a cyber bully.
Amanda Todd died at the age of 15 after being bullied for three years. Picture: Facebook Source:
Anonymous, the world's largest hacking group, united by anti-censorship ideals, tracked and exposed the man who allegedly posted the photographs and harassed the teenager via Facebook.
In a video posted to YouTube, a figure in a mask and with his voice disguised claims Anonymous discovered a connection between a 30-year-old man from British Columbia and Amanda.
"We Are Anonymous. We Are Legion. We Do Not Forgive. We Do Not Forget," they warn, signing off "Expect us".
The hacking group, voted one of Time Magazine's most influential people in 2012, back their claims by leaking personal information including his date of birth and address on a pastebin.com page.
The dump of information by Anonymous linking the exposed man to Amanda Todd. Picture: Pastebin.com Source:
The leak also seems to link the exposed man's digital footprint directly to Amanda Todd, including a Google map of his house address, posts on web forums associated with child pornography and chat requests.
Despite this, there is still no concrete evidence against the alleged offender and local police say innuendo and rumours are slowing down the investigation.
Sergeant Peter Thiessen from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said in a statement they are dealing with thousands of tips. He also warned people to not donate to sites purporting to raise funds in memory of Amanda.
“One of our big challenges right now, is false information that is being spread by people who appear to be trying to use Amanda’s story to do harm or make a profit,” he said in the statement.
He believed “the internet and social media were central to Amanda’s story and they are central to the investigation" but dismissed the Anonymous leak as an "unfounded allegation".
An alleged court document shows child-sex charges of a man with the same surname as the exposed man
Using the leaked information, CTV News earlier tracked down a man attending court in relation to child-related sex offences, with reportedly the same surname as the man exposed by Anonymous.
The man told CTV News he was friends with Amanda Todd whom he had met online through her singing videos, but that the accusations against him were incorrect and he was not one of her tormentors.
He instead claims it is a case of mistaken identity and he had contacted her to help as he "was a known hacker", The Vancouver Sun reports.
The man, who arrived at court in a black hoodie, says he passed on information to police about Amanda's harasser. He told the Vancouver Sun the man responsible is actually a 26-year-old living in New York using the online alias of Viper.
His mother has thrown her support behind her son, who has been charged with the sexual assault of a minor.
“Yeah, he has issues, like we all do — but he’s not a creepy street hoodlum doing crime,” she told Postmedia News.
CTV News claim to have cornered the man linked to Amanda Todd by Anonymous. Picture: CTV News Source:
She asked the public to leave them alone, as the "lynch mob" mentality was causing her family pain.
“It’s really dangerous to throw out names when you don’t know,” his mum said, sobbing.
“This is doing more harm than good.”
She backs the story about her son speaking to police in regards to a New York man. She claims when he was about 14 years old he sent authorities the names of individuals who visited a website containing photos of young children.
His mother is concerned the people behind the Anonymous leak may be people he had outed in his past seeking retribution.
“Half the stuff can be doctored,” she said.
The rapid spread of the man's unconfirmed identity on the internet has also led to a number of hate pages being established online including Facebook pages calling for his death.
Information provided by Anonymous on the pastebin page outlined his association with Reddit and particularly a seedy subreddit called jailbait, which was moderated by Violentacrez, who was exposed this week byGawker as the "world's worst internet troll".
The message board is for users to post sexual photographs of teenage girls. Motley News reported the alleged offender scrubbed all the images he had uploaded to the jailbait website as soon as he was exposed.
Forums and websites are now seething with hatred directed at a pedophile they believe is responsible for Amanda's suicide.
Source: Supplied
In another sick twist, the vile attacks which led to Todd's death have continued with Facebook memorial pages being defaced with cruel jibes and a topless photo of her being circulated online.
The horrible images began to litter the RIP Amanda Todd page, which has received hundreds of thousands of 'likes', including a picture of a bottle of bleach and the caption “it’s to die for”, referencing an earlier suicide attempt.
A month before her death, the Canadian teen outlined her three-year bullying ordeal in a silent YouTube video titled "My story: Struggling, bullying, suicide, self harm" using handwritten notes.
She described the agony she felt after a troll posted a topless photo of her online and sent it to her family, friends and classmates.
Amanda wrote in the video how the unidentified man pressured her into flashing her breasts on a webcam.
"In 7th grade, I would go with a friend on webcam to meet and talk to new people. Then I got called stunning, beautiful, perfect etc...then he wanted me to flash, so I did."
A year later she received a Facebook message with a screenshot of her naked breasts, demanding she expose herself further or he would release the picture.
The photo was then sent around her school, causing Amanda to sink into a deep depression, using alcohol and drugs to attempt to ease the pain. She documented her downward spiral, including her need to change schools twice, in the YouTube video in an effort to warn others of the risks of online bullying.
"I can never get that photo back," she wrote in the heartbreaking nine-minute video. (warning: graphic content)
"I have nobody. I need someone. My name is Amanda Todd."
Source: Supplied
Her calls for help went unanswered and on Wednesday she took her life at her home in British Columbia, just weeks before her 16th birthday. The topless photo had resurfaced at her new school and her bully had made it his Facebook profile picture.
"I think the video should be shared and used as an anti-bullying tool. That is what my daughter would have wanted."
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