Dutch police installed covert microphones and cameras in home linked to accused in Amanda Todd case

A Dutch police officer testified Monday about leading a team of investigators who mounted a covert operation to install microphones and video cameras in a residence linked to the man accused of sextorting Amanda Todd.

Chief Insp. Joerie van Schiandel said he and three other officers entered the rural holiday bungalow in December 2013, a month before Aydin Coban's arrest, taking care to ensure no one was home when they walked through the front door.

He said they installed microphones and cameras and made copies of the contents of computers and hard drives over the course of two days — all under the scrutiny of a judge, who watched them make their way through the residence via a secure video and audio link.

In dramatic testimony, van Schiandel — who now leads the Dutch national police force's digital intrusion team — said he was also part of the surveillance team that kept tabs on Coban from a nearby location over the next month.

He returned with two of his officers to the bungalow on Jan. 13, 2014 to arrest the suspect.

Crown prosecutors say police in the Netherlands were crucial in linking Coban to an array of social media accounts used to harass Amanda Todd, who died by suicide at the age of 15.

The 44-year-old has pleaded not guilty to five criminal charges, including extortion, possession of child pornography and child luring. He is not charged with Todd's death.

Van Schiandel was one of three Dutch investigators to testify Monday.

He described the arrest in detail, saying he and two plainclothes colleagues had planned to handcuff Coban as he sat behind the screen of his computer in one of the bungalow's two bedrooms.

But things didn't work out exactly as they hoped.

"It was a silent entry. We went through the front door," van Schiandel said.

The officer said Coban emerged from the bedroom to go to the bathroom as police stood in the hallway.

"There was a mirror in the hallway. Through the mirror you could see him coming, and he could probably also see from his point of view the police officers standing in the living room," van Schiandel said.

Van Schiandel said the arrest started in the hallway, but moved into another bedroom as his men struggled to control Coban. The officer said the suspect cut his right eye on a radiator before he was handcuffed.