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Northern Irish "torturer" sexually abused 3,500 children; 12-year-old girl shot herself

Warning: This story contains distressing details of extreme child sexual abuse

The UK's biggest catfishing "child offender" has been jailed for a minimum of 20 years for sexually abusing children online and killing a 12-year-old girl.

Alexander McCartney, 26, from County Armagh, pleaded guilty to 185 offences, including more than 50 blackmail offences. Alexander McCartney has been in custody since his first court appearance in July 2019. In 2018, he was charged with manslaughter after a 12-year-old American girl named Cimarron Thomas committed suicide while torturing her. One of the biggest online child abusers, he created fake personas targeting 3,500 victims aged 10 to 16 from more than 30 countries.

From behind a computer screen at his home in Northern Ireland, McCartney brought fear and destruction into the lives of thousands of children around the world. Although he used other social media sites, including Instagram and Kik, on rare occasions, he approached the vast majority of his victims on Snapchat. Among his 64 devices, he pretended to be a girl to send intimate photos to his victims. Sometimes he used pictures he got from other girls and pretended to be them when talking to new victims. Once in possession of the photos, he blackmails them for more extreme photos. He said he would expose them to their friends and family if they did not send the picture. 

McCartney

What is catfishing and what did McCartney do?

Alexander McCartney's crimes between 2013 and 2019 have been described as "the UK's biggest catfishing case". Catfishing involves using false identities online to befriend and exploit victims. A 'catfish' is a person who has created a false identity. They usually target people through social media and messaging apps for abuse and fraud. 

In many cases, terrified children begged McCartney to stop and not put their pictures on the Internet. Some couldn't stop shaking and I thought I was going to die. But McCartney replied: "I don't care." On some occasions he shared the images with other paedophiles, police said. He forced the children to include their younger siblings in the sexual abuse, including family pets and objects.

Although investigators believe 3,500 children were targeted, the case focused on 70 of them to give the court a manageable caseload. During the investigation, prosecutors discovered a case that led to tragic consequences. 

 Cimarron Thomas

In 2018, he sent a message to 12-year-old Cimarron Thomas in West Virginia, US. After congratulating her and getting a picture, he began his abuse. Cimarron Thomas was 12 when McCartney began sexually abusing her online. He demanded more pictures of her and threatened to put her pictures online and expose her if she didn't do what he said. Scared, she did not tell anyone what was happening to her. McCartney followed her and came back for more photos, telling her to include her little sister. She refused and said she would kill herself. He set a countdown clock. While online with McCartney, Cimarron shot herself in the head with her family's legally owned gun. Her younger sister found her. Tragically, 18 months later, when Cimarron's father Ben died by taking his own life, he had no idea why his own daughter had died.

McCartney's devices included "tens of thousands of photos and videos of underage girls performing sexual acts while being blackmailed," he kept records of the children he abused and screenshotted their Snapchat location pins so he knew where they were.

The court heard the harm caused by McCartney was "immeasurable" and that he "humiliated and humiliated" his victims for his own sexual gratification. Many of his child victims were unrecognized, but all their lives were changed forever.

Police said McCartney became the first person in the UK to be convicted of manslaughter when the victim lived in a foreign jurisdiction. US Homeland Security added that McCartney deserved every minute of his sentence. "We are grateful that our law enforcement officers in Northern Ireland found McCartney fit for his role in the girl's death," said Special Agent Derek W. Gordon.

A spokesperson for Snapchat said that sexually exploiting any person is dangerous and illegal, and "our hearts go out to the victims in this case." "If we detect this activity or report it to us, we will remove it, lock the offending account and report it to the authorities." The company said they have added protection for teens to avoid being contacted by strangers. Through our in-app Family Center, parents can also see who their teens are talking to and who their friends are,” they added.

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