Robert Campbell to be sentenced in international cyberbullying case
Robert Campbell should spend eight years in prison for his international cyberbullying campaign that targeted dozens of people with fake social media accounts and doctored photos, a Crown prosecutor argued at a sentencing hearing in Ottawa.
Campbell pleaded guilty to 63 charges of identity fraud, defamation and criminal harassment in a case that involved 38 people across Canada, the U.S. and U.K.
Roland Stieda told CBC News he was harassed for 12 years, after working with Campbell for a few months in 2002. Stieda said the campaign against him included false social media accounts filled with "hateful things" and false email accounts that were used to send emails to various people in his professional and personal life.
"He was just basically trying to destroy my reputation and standing in the community," Stieda said. "In essence, he created a number of profiles where, for example, he would state that somebody was a Nazi organizer or he would state that somebody was a sex trade worker or that they had mental health issues or that they had substance abuse issues."
Stieda said he is baffled at why he was targeted.
"To be honest, I barely remember the man," Stieda said. "That's been one of the most difficult things in all of this is, is whenever something happens, the first thing people ask is, 'What did you do?' And I can't think of any run-in I had with Mr. Campbell. I can't think of any run-in that anybody who worked with Mr. Campbell has with him. There's nothing there."
The names of the victims in the case are protected by a publication ban but Stieda requested to lift the ban to share his story of harassment.
The sentencing hearing continues Friday. The defence did not say what sentence it would be requesting, but said it would be less than what the Crown is asking.
Campbell pleaded guilty to 63 counts
Campbell was charged in August after an eight-month investigation involving law enforcement agencies in B.C., Ontario, New Brunswick and Halifax, as well as Michigan in the U.S. and Hertfordshire and London in the U.K. He remains in custody.
He pleaded guilty to 63 counts after being initially charged with:
- 27 counts of criminal harassment;
- 85 counts of defamation libel;
- 69 counts of identity fraud.
A search warrant was executed at his home in Ottawa's west-end Britannia Park neighbourhood and at least three computers were seized, police sources told CBC at the time.
Multiple aliases were used in the alleged attacks and the victims include men, women and their families, police sources said.
"This had a very severe personal impact on our victims — not only personally, but also professionally," said Ottawa police Acting Insp. Carl Cartright at the time the charges were laid.
