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Man accused of tormenting Amanda Todd may never face justice in Canada

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PORT COQUITLAM (NEWS1130) – Confusion is growing about whether the man accused of harassing a Port Coquitlam teen online to the point where she took her own life will ever be brought to Canada to face justice.

Amanda Todd, 15, killed herself in October 2012 after detailing in an online video how she was relentlessly harassed by an Internet predator.

On Friday, the 35-year-old was charged in the Netherlands; hours later, he was charged here.

But some attorneys — like News1130 legal analyst Michael Shapray — doubt the man will be tried here because our extradition treaty with the Netherlands hasn’t been updated to include offences like Internet-assisted suicide or internet sexual predator activity.

Other lawyers disagree; they think it’s possible because the charges the man faces on both sides of the Atlantic are so similar.

Meanwhile, SFU criminology professor David MacAlister says because the suspect is facing charges in more than one country, authorities may run up against the legal principal that a suspect can’t be tried twice for the same offence.

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