‘Catfish’ predator who drove an American girl to suicide sentenced to life in Northern Ireland

A prolific “catfish” criminal whose cruel global online blackmail campaign targeted thousands of young victims and drove a 12-year-old American girl to suicide was sentenced to life in prison on Friday.

Alexander McCartney, 26, posed as a teenager online to befriend young women from around the world on the social media app Snapchat, forcing them to send him explicit photos and then threatening to make them public.

He pleaded guilty to 185 charges involving 70 children and was told he would spend at least 20 years behind bars.

Detective Chief Inspector Eamonn Corrigan, of the Police Service of Northern Ireland, said McCartney was a “disgusting child predator” whose crimes were on an “industrial scale”.

“Sitting in his childhood bedroom in Newry (Northern Ireland), he began committing crimes as a teenager and built what can only be described as a pedophile enterprise,” he told reporters outside the court.

“McCartney is a dangerous, ruthless and cruel pedophile,” he added.

Cimarron Thomas, from West Virginia, United States, took her own life in May 2018 after McCartney demanded that she engage her younger sister in sexual acts he forced her to engage in.

Eighteen months later, her distraught father Ben Thomas also committed suicide.

Belfast Crown Court previously heard there were other victims in the United States, as well as Australia and New Zealand.

– “Sexual pervert” –

Sentencing McCartney, Judge John O’Hara said he was not aware of any other case in which an perpetrator had used social media to “cause such terrible and catastrophic harm to young girls, up to and including the death of a 12-year-old girl.” .

“It’s really hard to imagine a sexual deviant who poses a greater risk than this defendant,” he added.

O’Hara said McCartney had proven “ruthless” in his crime, ignoring “repeated pleas for mercy”.

He said that even after his third arrest, the former computer science student continued to commit crimes in an “even more sinister, dramatic and horrific way.”

McCartney previously pleaded guilty to manslaughter in connection with Cimarron’s death.

Corrigan told reporters that McCartney even started the countdown when Cimarron threatened to kill herself using a legally owned firearm and told her, “I don’t care.”

“He might as well have pulled the trigger himself,” he added. “There is only one place for him: behind bars.”

McCartney also pleaded guilty to 59 counts of blackmail, dozens of counts of creating and distributing indecent images and numerous other counts of inciting children to engage in sexual activity.

– “Creepy” –

Police in Northern Ireland worked with other forces internationally to bring him to justice.

Derek Gordon, the US special agent in charge of homeland security investigations based in Washington, praised the investigation and prosecution of McCartney by his Northern Ireland counterparts as “simply brilliant”.

“Alexander McCartney committed several horrific and disturbing crimes and deserves every minute he spends in prison,” he said.

Catherine Kierans of the Northern Ireland Prosecution Service said it was estimated that McCartney targeted 3,500 girls, some as young as 10.

However, despite exhaustive efforts, many of his victims may never be identified.

She urged any child or young person to seek help if someone was threatening them by demanding sexual images or videos.

“It’s a crime. You are not guilty. Please speak to an adult you trust,” she said, praising the courage of the victims who helped convict McCartney.

She urged parents and guardians to talk to their children to keep them safe online.

“This disclosure of these issues will allow us to break the cycle of people abusing secrecy,” she said.

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