>> Hey, guys.
It's Amanda
I'm going to sing
"Someone Like You."
A lot of people requested it.
>> Mark: Amanda Todd, the B.C.
teen driven to death, haunted
by one revealing photo.
 ♪ I heard that you're settled
 down ♪
>> Mark: Tonight, we tell you
the story you never heard about
what really happened to her.
The blackmail, the sexual
extortion that could happen to
any teenager on the Internet.
>> They are young girls,
they're naive and they're
trusting.
They're not expecting that
there's a person on my list
who's out to extort me.
>> Mark: The friends who
watched her struggle.
>> She knew that she did
something wrong, she also knew
that there was nothing that
she could do anymore because
like, the damage was done.
>> Mark: The other woman who
battled her blackmailer, and
won.
>> I didn't want that computer
in my room.
That computer is hell.
>> Mark: We go deep into
Amanda's world of never seen
before videos and online
chats.
Her story in her own words.
How important is it to you to
find out who did this to your
daughter?
>> If I had one dying wish,
that would be it.
To find out who started all
this.
(♪♪)
>> Thank you.
>> Mark: Hi, I'm Mark Kelley
and welcome to the show.
You know, there's a good chance
right now someone close to you,
your child, niece or neighbour,
is online.
And maybe about to make a
mistake they will regret.
We've all made mistakes, and
it used to be in due time,
they were forgotten.
But in the age of the
Internet, there are online
predators who can make sure
you pay for a mistake for the
rest of your life.
That's what happened to Amanda
Todd.
While many remember her as a
victim of cyberbullying,
tormented by her classmates,
which she was, she was also
the target of an online network
of sexual extortionists.
Tonight, you'll see her as
you've never seen her before.
Her life, her struggles, and
the story of the blackmail
that drove her to her death.
This is the untold story of
the sextortion of Amanda Todd.
(♪♪)
>> Mark: For most people,
this is how they remember
Amanda Todd.
This video made by the B.C.
teen in her bedroom and posted
on Youtube back in September
2012.
It's been viewed almost 28
million times.
It was a cry for help.
And a cry for attention.
From her flashing her breasts
online...
To the blackmail and bullying
that ensued.
Triggering a fatal free-fall.
Her story starts in Port
Coquitlam, a trim and tidy
town just east of Vancouver.
The kind of place where
parents want to raise their
kids, a place that feels
familiar and safe.
A place where Amanda Todd
would learn all about life.
It was here she took
gymnastics, played hockey,
learned how to sing and dance.
Like most parents, Carol Todd
wanted to keep her daughter
busy and out of trouble.
>> She was spirited.
She was creative.
Painfully shy at times in her
life.
She was just this normal child
who took great pains to drive
her parents crazy.
As any typical child.
>> Mark: Amanda's parents
split when she was young, but
she remained close to her
mother and her father Norm.
>> Just a great little kid.
She was a firecracker.
She had a lot of spunk in her.
She just wanted everything in
life and challenged life.
And she wanted to grow up
really fast and have it all,
and so she definitely kept
everybody on their toes.
>> Mark: But as Amanda grew,
her mother said so did her
complexities.
She was diagnosed with
attention deficit disorder.
Revealing her vulnerabilities
to an often unforgiving world.
>> Kids would laugh at her so
she would compensate in other
ways by making jokes or she
would just compensate.
But it wasn't always to her
benefit because kids would
laugh at what she said.
And so then eventually, she
would become quieter and she
developed anxieties.
I could always tell when she
was anxious because she would
wring her hands.
>> Go.
>> Hi, my name is Amanda, and
I always like to sing
"O Canada" before I sing
any song.
♪ O Canada ♪
>> Mark: Amanda may have been
awkward in groups, but on
camera, she came alive.
♪ True patriot love ♪
>> Mark: She began recording
videos, in this one she's just
nine years old.
Later, she began posting the
videos on the internet.
The girl had a goal.
She wanted to be famous.
>> She loved the technology
because she was successful at
it.
And she could make things, she
made little videos.
She learned how to tape
herself and sing.
♪ Feels so right to be here
with you ♪
>> Mark: And then she learned
how to post them on YouTube.
>> Okay, thanks.
I hope you enjoyed it.
>> Mark: If you want to
understand any kid that age,
look at what they're doing
online.
♪ I cut my teeth on wedding
rings in the movies ♪
>> Mark: That's what we did
with Amanda.
This is her well-worn laptop.
She wrote love notes on the
keyboard.
Her parents gave "The Fifth
Estate" two of her computers.
With their permission, we
unlocked them, and deeply
imbedded on the hard drive, we
found hundreds of chat logs
from the girl known online as
cutielover.
(♪♪)
>> Mark: Entering grade 7 at
Pitt River middle school
would change everything for
13-year-old Amanda.
This is where she would begin
her journey into adolescence
and some dangerous territory.
>> Boys, right, you know.
Cute, giving your phone number.
I think she focused on the
attention that they were
giving her in the wrong ways,
but then when boys are paying
attention to a girl, then the
other girls get upset.
And so often she couldn't
handle it.
>> Amanda was always trying to
fit in with the popular crowds
and be a big part of
everything.
And sometimes it got her into
trouble.
>> Mark: And trouble was easy
to find online.
Amanda's life started moving
at the speed of the Internet.
(♪ Singing ♪)
>> Mark: Though she was
focusing on her singing videos,
people online started focusing
on her.
>> Mark: You never had the
concern that she's putting
herself out there, that there
is anything dark going on.
>> She asked for a webcam, and
I said "no," that a child does
not need a webcam of any kind,
especially a 12-year-old girl.
And she and I probably argued
the point, right?
>> Mark: And you lost.
>> I lost.
>> Mark: She moved in with her
dad, Norm.
He didn't see the webcam as a
danger, far from it.
He thought the webcam was like
a stage where she could
perform.
♪ I'm not a princess,
this ain't a fairy tale ♪
>> Mark: How hard did that make
it for you to be able to police
what your daughter was doing
online?
>> We'd get her password,
I'd go on her computer
sometimes and you could look
and see what she's been doing.
It always leaves a trail, and
so I'd poke in on things and
check on things, and there was
a lot of chat and things
between her friends and that.
>> Mark: But like most teens,
Amanda's chat logs reveal she
was trying to stay one step
ahead of her dad.
>> My dad will say bedtime and
I'll close the laptop and when
he closes my door, I'll be
back.
>> Mark: Amanda seemed to be
getting transfixed by her
image on the screen.
Watch in this video as she
stares endlessly at herself on
her webcam.
And when she found websites
with other people on webcams,
she would discover it wasn't
just kids staring back.
Amanda's friend Shaylah and
Tessa remember the late-night
sleepovers and how that webcam
became their window on a whole
new world.
What's going on in the
Internet?
>> Like, I don't know, Facebook
a lot, like blog TV.
>> Mark: Tell me about blog TV.
>> Well, you're supposed to,
like, chat, like with, like,
other strangers around the
world, like your age and stuff,
and just meet new people.
>> Hi, I'm Andrea.
>> Hey, everyone.
>> Mark: Websites like blog TV
were, and still are, wildly
popular with kids with webcams
and free time on their hands.
>> I am good.
Yes, I am very good.
>> Mark: Some sing.
♪ Speaking words of wisdom ♪
>> Mark: Some seek advice.
>> I have a question.
What else should go on this
picture?
>> Mark: Some perform.
(♪♪)
>> Mark: And others don't seem
to know what to do.
It's a place where people can
meet.
>> How old are you ladies?
>> 16.
>> Perfect.
>> Mark: And move on.
>> Thanks.
Bye.
>> Mark: But there's also a
dark backdrop to the glare of
that webcam.
At what point do things get a
little, you know, edgier?
>> Like weird?
>> Mark: Yeah.
>> 'Cause like just like
creepy people go on the
website, like older people and
they like want to talk to the
younger people.
>> Mark: Those creepy people
she talked about wanted more
than just to talk to the
girls.
They wanted to see them in the
flesh.
Some girls needed to be
coaxed.
While others willingly played
along, exploring their own
budding sexuality.
Either way, there was a
growing online appetite and
audience for girls who liked
to perform.
Like Amanda
Aka cutielover.
(♪♪)
>> Mark: For many kids,
the Internet is an endless
popularity contest.
>> Oh, thank you for watching
this, Peter.
>> Mark: Where popularity is
measured in how many likes or
views you're getting and
Amanda was keeping a close
count.
Was she happy online?
>> Yes.
>> Yeah.
>> People would watch her and
she would get a lot of views.
>> Yeah.
>> Mark: Is that part of the
appeal, though, isn't it,
people watching and it's like
a new group of friends.
>> Yeah, and them only knowing
what you're like telling them.
>> Mark: So you sort of get a
different version of yourself.
>> Yeah, you can edit
yourself.
>> Mark: Amanda was attracting
more attention.
According to chat logs, one
day, she was on her webcam
with more than 150 people
watching her on blog tv
She then made a decision that
would haunt her forever.
Amanda lifted her shirt and
flashed for the camera and the
crowd.
Then somehow captured a freeze
frame of her topless and
posted the picture on a porn
site.
Then a link to that picture
was sent to all of Amanda's
Facebook friends, including
her mother.
>> And what was your reaction
when you saw that in front of
your eyes?
>> It was one of those oh, my
God kind of moments.
Like what's happening and why
is this here and where is it
going and why is it on a site
like this?
>> Mark: In the flash of a few
seconds, her impulsive gesture
was immortalized on a porn
site, available to anyone
online anywhere.
And for Amanda, the
consequences came quickly.
One of her friends told her
parents about the picture and
they called the police.
The R.C.M.P. tracked down
Amanda at her father's house.
The police said they wanted to
make sure she was safe.
>> My reaction was worried,
what are you thinking, what
are you doing, where is it
coming from?
She played it off that she was
goofing around.
To her, it wasn't a huge, big
deal.
>> Mark: But it was a big
deal, and about to get bigger.
There are men who troll
websites looking for pictures
like Amanda's.
They are blackmailers who
contact the girls and demand
more pictures or online
performances from them.
It was Christmas Eve 2010, and
Carol received an eerie,
anonymous Facebook message
warning her Amanda was being
extorted.
She needs to be stopped
because most of the them are
old guys who record her and
blackmail her into doing more.
Carol replied, who are you?
Also, where did you get your
information from?
This is now a police matter.
But how much of a matter was
it for the police?
It wasn't clear what, if
anything, they were doing to
track down the blackmailer.
Carol remembers the impact on
Amanda when she returned to
school as the girl in the
picture.
>> Embarrassment, anxiety,
depression.
She got, um, I guess the name
is slut-shamed, nicknames like
cam whore and then questions
about, so are you doing this on
a regular basis, and porn star,
and it just -- you know for a
child that's in grade 7, it was
very, um -- it killed her.
>> Mark: This is how Amanda
described it in one of the
chats we found on her laptop.
>> There are people out there
that can't talk to me or they
will be hated.
I never got the chance to go
out of my house and be a real
normal person.
Instead, now all I do is hide.
I'm always scared of what's
going to happen.
>> Mark: Amanda confided in
her friends Shaylah and Tessa
telling them she had flashed
only once.
>> She knew that she did
something wrong.
She also knew that there was
nothing she could do anymore
because like the damage was
done.
>> Mark: Do you think it was
such a big deal, what she did?
>> Like not really.
Like I didn't think it would--
>> I didn't think it was
like that big.
Like I thought it was just
going to be wait a couple
months, it will wear off.
>> It will die down, like you
know.
>> Mark: But it didn't die
down.
No, it got worse.
School became unbearable so
Amanda changed schools.
But she couldn't outrun the
blackmailer.
In the spring of 2011, Amanda
and Carol were in the car
together when Amanda said,
he's back.
She had received another
threat demanding more webcam
shows.
Carol took Amanda's phone and
that message, and drove to the
local R.C.M.P. detachment
looking for help.
This was the second time in
six months police had been
notified about the blackmail.
Police would be notified
again.
This time, by staff at her new
school.
They had been sent Amanda's
topless picture and they told
the police.
But the police still had no
news for the Todd family.
That left Amanda to defend
herself online.
Her messages reveal there was
an insatiable appetite for her
to show more.
This time from a guy named
Joe.
(♪♪)
>> Mark: Her parents told her to
stay away from the sites
where she found trouble.
But Amanda wouldn't or
couldn't.
>> There was no way that I was
ever going to say my
daughter's totally innocent,
she would never, ever do
anything.
If I were an investigating
officer, I would have probably
taken her computer and checked
it out because regardless of
what she did, she was still an
underaged minor.
>> Mark: Carol felt police
weren't taking the threats
seriously, despite the fact
this had gone way beyond
online bullying.
This was blackmail or
sextortion, a new crime now
exploding on the Internet.
With many other victims like
Amanda.
>> He told me that if I
contacted the police, he would
send all the photos of me that
he had of me, yada, yada,
yada, blackmail me.
(♪♪)
(♪♪)
♪ Whenever you smile ... ♪
>> Mark: What Amanda Todd was
doing online was pretty typical
for many teenagers.
Chances are right now, there's
a teen girl in her room on
your street or in your
neighbourhood on a live
streaming webcam.
Doing something their parents
are completely oblivious to.
(♪♪)
>> Mark: Though there are
some exceptions, like in this
incident caught on video.
(screaming)
>> Mark: This girl's mother
barges into her daughter's
bedroom.
>> Mom, you cannot take my
personal items!
>> I don't know why you're so
sneaky!
>> I'm not sneaky!
>> Mark: And the show is shut
down.
>> Let's go.
>> Mark: So why would a girl
flash?
Well, Amanda's friends Shaylah
and Tessa say they don't but
given a little online flirting
and flattery, other girls
will.
>> For most girls, it's like
the attention and wanting to
feel important, in a way,
I guess.
>> Mark: And how does the
flattery work, like where is
that coming from?
>> Well, probably like he's
encouraging you to like flash,
so he's being nice and like
talking to you.
>> Mark: But at the time, does
it seem like flattery or does
it seem like someone who's
really trying to trick you to
do something?
>> At the time, it seems like
flattery.
>> Mark: That flattery is laid
on thick by a male audience
who systematically stalk
websites looking for girls on
their webcams.
>> Hi, everyone.
>> I'll do something
interesting once I know that
you guys can hear me and see
me.
>> Mark: They're a new breed
of cyber-predators who capture
the girls' images.
They call themselves cappers.
Aleisha Rita was drawn into
this dark world back in 2005.
She was 16 years old.
Like Amanda, she was
vulnerable, and like Amanda,
she went online looking for
something better.
>> I'd create a profile of
myself, and I'd have guys and
girls make comments, oh,
you're so pretty, and stuff
like that.
And I'd get this attention,
this positive attention that I
had never gotten before
because I was constantly being
ridiculed at school, I was
constantly being put down, and
I loved going on the computer.
I loved getting that
attention.
>> Mark: Explain this to me,
why couldn't you be the person
offline that you were online?
>> Because no one wanted to be
with that person.
>> Mark: Ally was getting
special attention from one
particular guy.
He said he was 18, and like
her, lived in Kingston,
Ontario.
>> He was nice.
He was sweet.
Every day, on the computer,
morning, afternoon, night,
hey, how's it going, how was
your day, I missed you.
>> Mark: How was he making
you feel?
>> On top of the world.
>> Mark: But their innocent
conversations soon turned
sexual.
(♪♪)
>> Mark: During their webcam
chats, he would undress, urging
ally to do the same.
>> He would say, where's your
mom?
And I'd go she's sitting on
the couch and like the couch
would be off to the side where
he wouldn't be able to see
her, and he'd go do me a
favour, close the doors in a
bit.
So I'd, nonchalant, kind of
close the doors in so she
wouldn't notice.
That's when he would start to
remove his pants and pull out
his genitalia and he would
start to masturbate on the
webcam.
>> Mark: With your mother
sitting feet away from you.
>> Yeah.
>> Mark: Tell me about the
time you did flash him for the
first time.
>> All I remember was it was
just a...
Just do it for me, and I
just...
Did it.
(♪♪)
>> Mark: Ally eventually agreed
to meet her online friend at
his parents' house.
There she says he sexually
assaulted her, but she didn't
go to police at that time.
Instead, she tried to cut him
out of her life.
But like Amanda Todd, she
would quickly discover how a
cyber-stalker always finds a
way back in.
>> I told him that if he ever
contacted me again, that I
would contact the police and
almost laughing at me, he told
me that if I contacted the
police, he would send all the
photos of me that he had of
me, yada, yada, yada,
blackmail me.
>> Mark: Now, hold on a second.
What did he have on you at
that point?
>> Oh, the photos of me
flashing him and stuff.
>> Mark: Ally was then stalked
online, her accounts hacked.
She said she hated being alone
with her computer.
Meanwhile, police in Kingston
were contacted by police in
Alberta and England who were
on the trail of a serial
blackmailer whose victims were
as young as nine years old.
Stephanie Morgan works for
Ontario's integrated child
exploitation unit in Kingston.
What were the depths of what
his requests were for them to
do online?
>> Sexual acts, including, um,
masturbation, insertion of
objects, and it even ranged as
far as bestiality.
>> Mark: You were profiling
this guy, so what do you think
he was getting out of this?
>> My impression is that he
was getting a sense of power,
that he maybe didn't experience
in his own personal life.
Power over other people.
And some sexual satisfaction
as well.
>> Mark: Police took the
blackmailer's e-mails, tracked
down the I P address of the
computer they were sent from,
and asked the Internet company
whose name was on the account.
>> The originating IP address
actually came from Kingston
and we realized the person
doing this lived right here in
our community.
>> Mark: So you've got the IP
address, how do you put a name
to this?
>> We tracked back where the
activity was originating from.
And realized who lived there.
And it was Mark Bedford.
>> Mark: The blackmailer was a
baby-faced 21-year-old student
who still lived with his
parents.
He would be convicted of
terrorizing 63 girls in Canada
and the U.K.
>> I was reading over the
newspaper and that's when I
was like oh, my God, it's him,
it's him, it's the guy.
>> Mark: The charge of sexually
assaulting Ally was withdrawn
in a plea deal, but he was
sentenced to three years in
prison, a young criminal armed
with little more than a
computer.
>> He was a young adult by the
time of his arrest but he came
across more as a teenager, as
a socially awkward teenager
who couldn't keep eye contact
when he spoke to you, mumbled
and spoke quietly, and just
seemed small and harmless.
>> Mark: But he just seems
like such an everyday
character out there as opposed
to some evil predator.
I'm just -- I don't know how
you square the two things
here.
>> That's something we see
commonly in this type of
situation, these types of
investigations.
You can't pick these people
out.
>> Mark: Over at Ontario's
integrated child exploitation
unit, detective Frank
Goldschmidt says Bedford was a
new breed of predator.
>> The younger, white male is
now involved more online
because, you know, they're a
little bit more tech-savvy and
they just really have this
expertise of being able to
communicate with a whole bunch
of people in a very short period
of time.
>> Mark: So when you first
started, the creepy old man was
65 and now today's creepy old
man is 25.
>> 25 or even younger.
(♪♪)
>> Mark: It's the fall of
2011 and back in B.C.,
Carol Todd was wondering how
actively the R.C.M.P.
was trying to track down
Amanda's blackmailer.
>> There has to be ways to dig
into all that stuff regarding
who it might be.
>> Mark: And though she was
hopeful she would soon learn
the blackmail was about to get
worse.
(♪♪)
(♪♪)
>> Mark: For every girl who has
ever pushed their boundaries
online, you can be sure there
is someone out there just
waiting to capture that image.
(♪♪)
>> Mark: Cappers as they're
known online then trade images
like Amanda's and post them
on websites.
Teenaged girls, forever young,
forever online.
(♪♪)
>> Mark: Cappers even had a
weekly newscast posted on
YouTube.
>> Welcome, cappers.
And cap whores.
Another edition of the daily
capper.
>> Mark: The daily capper
would profile new girls who
were online like must-see TV
and one of those girls was
Amanda.
>> Another girl from blog has
been talked about a lot this
week.
Announcing Amanda...
>> Mark: Many girls may not
even know their images have
been captured and posted
online, unless like Amanda,
they're blackmailed with
demands for more.
The blackmailers then surface
on websites.
They brazenly trade tactics to
get more nude pictures from
girls.
What they call a win.
"K, good news, got some pics
on her but possible blackmail
for some wins.
Anyone any good on this or
suggestions on how?"
Mail account seems permanently
blocked but I found her
Facebook, maybe she can be
blackmailed."
(♪♪)
>> Mark: This video of Amanda
was recorded and posted
on a website.
While she was still being
publicly shunned and shamed.
She found comfort online.
She was craving attention and
affection, and she knew where
she could find it.
But her online chat logs
obtained by "The Fifth Estate"
reveal some of the attention
was unwanted and making her
increasingly uncomfortable.
(♪♪)
>> Mark: Her fears were
justified.er fears were
October 2011, ten months since
the R.C.M.P. had first been
notified about Amanda's case,
and she received another
blackmail threat.
Once again, Carol saved the
message.
>> This was the third request
to Amanda to reveal herself
and do something sexual on
cam.
>> Mark: Carol has never made
this public before, a
disturbing Facebook message
from someone using the online
name "Tyler boo."
"You already forgot who I am?
The guy who last year made you
change school, got your door
kicked in by the cops?
Give me three shows and I will
disappear forever.
You know I won't stop until
you give me those three shows.
If you go to a new school, new
Bf, new friends, new whatever,
I will be there again.
I am crazy, yes.
So your answer."
>> You've got pictures, you've
got E-mail addresses, you
know, you've got a campaign
here, a blackmail campaign.
>> Yeah.
>> Mark: It's all right here.
What did you do with this?
>> When I got it?
>> Mark: Yeah.
>> From Amanda?
I saved it.
Sent it to the R.C.M.P.
>> Mark: Carol had been in
repeated contact with the
R.C.M.P., handing them clues
in the case.
That's why she wanted to know
what they could do to catch
the blackmailer.
In this E-mail response to
her, the mounties seemed to
suggest, not much.
"I would highly recommend that
Amanda close all her Facebook
and E-mail accounts at this
time."
Faced with the repeated sexual
extortion of a 14-year-old,
the mounties' blunt assessment?
If Amanda does not stay off
the Internet and/or take steps
to protect herself online,
there is only so much we as
the police can do.
>> As a parent, absolutely
feel helpless and when the
police can't accomplish
anything, what does that tell
you?
It's very difficult because
how can you comfort your
daughter or anybody when
you've got something that you
can't control yourself and
they can see that you can't
stop it or control it?
>> Mark: Now just think about
what the R.C.M.P. seemed to
be saying here.
Imagine a 14-year-old girl
being stalked by a predator in
a park.
Sure, the police would say
stay away from the park, but
would also expect them to do
their best to find the
predator.
In what other situation would
the police tell a teenage
victim the best option is for
her to protect herself?
Even Carol Todd was giving the
R.C.M.P. ideas about what they
could do to protect her child.
In an E-mail, she suggested
the police could set a trap to
catch the blackmailer.
Would baiting the fellow be of
any use?
Well, it's not such a wild
idea.
Laying a trap is exactly what
detective Frank Goldschmidt
from the integrated child
exploitation unit in Ontario
would do.
And he showed us how simply it
can be done.
Watch as this officer posing
as a girl online trolls for
online predators.
>> We'll actually assume their
accounts, and we'll continue
chatting with this individual
to try and get ourselves in a
position where we can identify
them and then go and get them.
You know, we can suggest to
people, you know, to cut
communications, but I mean it
doesn't take long for the
offender to re-establish a
connection through another
means, whether it's another
chat forum on the Internet or
simple E-mail.
>> Mark: But back in B.C.,
Carol said the R.C.M.P.
never took over Amanda's
accounts, even though the
blackmailer came back again.
It says November 12 is the
Facebook page.
In November of 2011, a fake
Facebook account is created by
someone posing as a new
student in Amanda's school.
The person connects with
Amanda's Facebook friends,
then switches his profile
picture to that infamous
photo.
He posts this message with a
picture, "sent to about 280
peeps, enjoy the shitfest."
What do you see when you see
that picture now?
>> What do I see?
If only I could tell who was
at the other end.
Taking that picture.
We're in a decade of technology
that doesn't go away.
There has to be ways to dig
into all that stuff regarding
who it might be.
If I had one dying wish, that
would be it, to find out who
started all this.
>> Mark: But to find that
digital trail, detective
Goldschmidt says police have
to act fast.
>> Some of it might be time
stamped and may disappear
after a certain period of
time.
But in most cases, it's the
service provider that will
maintain that information.
So when we become aware of a
case, we have to get on it
immediately because it is time
sensitive.
>> Mark: So if you don't get
it early, it's gone?
>> Pretty much.
(♪♪)
>> Mark: It had been almost a
year since the blackmail and
sextortion began, and it
was taking its toll on Amanda
Her parents and a concerned
high school guidance counsellor
were worried.
So were her friends.
>> It was creating anxiety
knowing that everyone has
seen your photo, no one can let
it go, so she was just like
feeling sick and like she
didn't want to be around people
because of that.
She just like stayed inside a
lot and like she just wasn't
like herself I feel like.
>> Yeah.
>> Mark: Amanda sent this
message to one of her online
friends which we found on her
laptop.
>> You know how many times
I've heard nobody likes you or
wants you here?
Go back to where you came from
or if you died, I would throw
a party?
Ever since all this happened,
I just cry myself to sleep
because it hurts no matter
what.
Please, please just help me.
>> Mark: This is Amanda on a
good day.
She had spent three weeks in
hospital after she started
cutting herself.
In this video, she's out for a
walk with a friend.
Away from her tormenters.
She was, in this rare moment,
safe.
And she was fighting to keep
it that way.
In this chat, someone asked
her to perform for him on her
webcam.
>> I don't do that shit
anymore.
I have self-respect and don't
give it to randoms.
>> Mark: Coming up, Amanda's
video and the true story
behind it.
(♪♪)
(♪♪)
>> Mark: Early September 2012,
Amanda Todd had spent most of
the summer inside her mother's
house, afraid to go out.
Afraid to be recognized as the
girl in that infamous photo.
But alone in her bedroom, she
had an idea.
>> She got the bug in her ear
to do the video and so she
started on this little project.
She wouldn't tell me what the
project was, but she told me
that she needed black markers,
and she took all my white
paper.
Right?
And she made the video.
>> Mark: Amanda posted it on
YouTube and the online world
started watching.
But her parents say people
have misinterpreted the
meaning of the video.
>> People think that that was
a suicide video.
It was not.
It was a release.
She wanted her story out
there, especially to the
people that were harassing
her.
>> It was very touching and
very sad of a wake-up call of
what my daughter's going
through.
>> Mark: Amanda's video
attracted more and more
attention.
Other kids could relate to her
struggle.
And sent her messages of
support.
She replied with this message
obtained by "The Fifth
Estate."
>> It's finally nice to see
people care.
My family and my mom are the
ones trying to stay strong.
I booked November 28th to get
my "stay strong" tattoo on my
wrist so I can look at it and
stop myself.
People now call me crazy, but
I'm just going to keep my head
up.
Love and Cheers, Amanda.
(♪♪)
>> Mark: Amanda never lived to
get her "stay strong" tattoo.
She took her life on October
10th in her mother's house,
alone.
>> The tattoo, that's in
memory of my daughter.
>> Mark: So her father Norm
got the "stay strong" tattoo
for Amanda
Her ashes were mixed with the
ink.
Tell me about October the 10th
and when you learned what had
happened to your daughter.
>> Um, I got a phone call.
I was in my lake house.
That was it.
Changed my life forever.
>> Mark: What was her last
message to you?
>> Um, that she loved me, to
not be mad at her.
That she would always be my
princess.
>> Hey, guys.
It's Amanda
I'm going to sing "Someone
Like You"
and I hope you guys like it.
>> Mark: What's the lasting
image of her that you want to
hold on to?
>> Her singing.
♪ I heard that you're settled
down ♪
>> Mark: Amanda Todd's
bedroom sits pretty much as
she left it after ending her
life more than a year ago.
A shrine to lost hopes and
dreams.
♪ I've heard that you're ♪ 
>> Mark: Tucked away on her
bulletin board, a business card
from an R.C.M.P. investigator.
An image frozen in time.
After her suicide, things
started happening.
The Internet exploded with
rumours about who drove her to
her death.
The case finally became a
priority.
20 officers were assigned
to it.
But are the police any closer
to figuring out who was behind
the sextortion of Amanda Todd?
The R.C.M.P. refused to speak
to us, saying the investigation
is still on-going.
>> Would I do things
differently?
Um, absolutely.
I would have tried to change
things up and --
>> Mark: How?
>> Um, I probably would have
made sure she got a lot more
attention and love, and, um,
stayed really close to her, a
lot closer.
>> Mark: For Carol, the search
for answers comes too late for
her daughter.
>> Nobody dug deep enough to
find the answers for Amanda.
Maybe for the reasons that no
one anticipated her outcome
either.
So you think of it as just
another report, just another
child.
♪ I wish nothing but the best- ♪
>> Mark: But how many more
children, how many more
teens are behind closed doors
in their parents' house right
now flirting with the idea of
a harmless flash?
And how many more blackmailers
are just waiting for that
moment, waiting to capture the
photo and then post it online,
an indelible image like
Amanda's?
♪ Yeah, yeah ♪
(♪♪)
>> Thank you.
>> Mark: We would like to
thank Norm and Carol Todd for
their help in telling this
story, opening not only their
lives to it but also Amanda's.
Now, after watching this
program, you may be wondering
what to do if you suspect your
child is being exploited
online.
Well, go to our website where
we have information from
police and the child
protection group "cybertip".
That's at CBC.ca/fifth.
"The Fifth Estate" returns
right after this.
(♪♪)
