The group known as Anonymous discovered who was behind the bullying of 15-year-old Amanda Todd, a Canadian girl who suffered from so much torment that she committed suicide because of depression and anxiety.
The group named the bully this past Monday in a post published on Pastebin. Anonymous said that the man who bullied Todd is 30 and resides in New Westminster, British Columbia. According to the group, the man forced Todd to flash him and then her created a nightmare for her. In the post, the man is described as someone who “extorted amanda todd for pictures. This is the pedophile that social engineered Amanda Todd into supplying him nude pictures.” The post from Anonymous also published the man’s address.
Other information that links Todd to the bully was published in Vice magazine. The information included the bully’s Facebook profile, screenshots of his home on Google Maps, screenshots from a ‘jailbait’ website account of his and chat conversations. It was reported by Vice that Anonymous became involved in the investigation of the bully when nude autopsy photographs of Todd were posted on the internet.
CTV News in Canada received a statement via email from Anonymous that read:
“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.”
It was reported by CTV that the man accused of bullying Todd made a court appearance for charges of sexual interference with a minor and sexual assault. Those charges are not related to the Todd bullying case. According to the alleged bully, he says that he was a friend of Todd and that a man from New York was bullying her instead.
Todd committed suicide last Wednesday and lived in Coquitlam, B.C. Back in September, Todd posted a video to YouTube that discussed her struggles with bullying, suicide attempts and self-harm. According to the YouTube video, the bullying began when Todd flashed a man on the internet when she was in the seventh grade. She then claims that the following year he found her on Facebook and sent the topless photo of her to everyone. Todd faced bullying at every school she attended, was beaten by angry girls and tried to commit suicide by drinking bleach.
“She was very courageous and I really love that she made that video,” Todd’s father, Norm said in an interview with the Vancouver Sun. “She told me why she made it — she wanted to send a message out so that it wouldn’t happen to someone else, so no one would have to go through what she went through […] She did that on her own and her message is being delivered now. It makes me happy that her voice is still alive and being heard.”