Catfish murderer Alexander McCartney sentenced to at least 20 years in prison

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

A Northern Ireland man has been sentenced to life in prison with a minimum of 20 years for the extreme online sexual abuse of children and the manslaughter of a 12-year-old girl who was one of his victims.

Alexander McCartney, from County Armagh, admitted 185 charges – including more than 50 blackmail offences.

He pleaded guilty to manslaughter after a 12-year-old American girl committed suicide while he was abusing her.

The charges affected children aged 10 to 16 from all over the world between 2013 and 2019.

On Friday, Judge O’Hara said McCartney would not be considered for release until 2039 – this takes into account the fact that he has been in custody since 2019, having already served five years.

What did Alexander McCartney do?

Warning: Disturbing details of extreme child abuse and strong language are mentioned in the following section.

Alexander McCartney is one of the world’s most common online child abusers and his litany of crimes has been described as “the UK’s biggest catfishing case”.

Cat fishing involves using a false identity online to befriend and exploit victims.

Behind a computer screen in his home in Northern Ireland, he brought fear and devastation into the lives of thousands of children around the world.

He contacted the vast majority of his victims via Snapchat, although on a few occasions he also used other social media sites such as Instagram and Kik.

Police believe McCartney targeted up to 3,500 children with his 64 devices. He posed as a young girl to trick his victims into sending intimate photos.

He sometimes used images he had received from other young girls and posed as such when speaking to new victims.

Once he had the photos, he blackmailed her, not for money, but for more extreme photos. If they didn’t send them, he said, he would show them to their friends and family.

He forced the children to involve their younger siblings in the abuse, which included family pets and belongings.

A Snapchat spokesperson said: “The sexual exploitation of any person is terrible and illegal and our condolences go out to the victims in this case.”

“If we discover this activity or it is reported to us, we will remove it, suspend the offending account, and report it to the authorities.

“We’ve put additional protections in place for teens to make it harder for them to be contacted by strangers, and we’ve expanded in-app notifications to ensure teens stay in touch with people they trust.

“Parents can also see who their teens are talking to and who their friends are through our in-app Family Center.”

In many cases, frightened children begged him to stop and begged that their pictures not be posted on the Internet.

Some said they would kill or hurt themselves.

One victim sent a picture of a cut on his arm. McCartney told them he “didn’t care.”

Another girl said: “I can’t stop shaking, I think I’m going to die.”

McCartney replied: “I don’t care.”

Police occasionally said he shared the images with other pedophiles.

He kept records of the children he abused and took screenshots of their Snapchat location pins so he knew where they were.

He was so relentless in his abuse that he had a template of messages that he copied and pasted to the children.

The court found that the harm McCartney caused was “unquantifiable” and that he “degraded and humiliated” victims for his own sexual gratification.

Many of his child victims were never identified, but their lives were changed forever.

Cimarron Thomas

Although investigators believe up to 3,500 children were targeted; This case focused on 70 of them to provide the court with a manageable caseload.

During the investigation, prosecutors discovered a case that had tragic consequences.

In 2018, he wrote a message to 12-year-old Cimarron Thomas in West Virginia, USA. After complimenting her and taking a photo, he began his campaign of abuse.

He demanded more pictures of her and threatened to post her pictures online and expose her if she didn’t do what he said.

Out of fear, she didn’t tell anyone what happened to her.

McCartney continued to pursue her and came back for more photos, telling her she had to include her little sister.

She refused to do this and said she would kill herself. He set a countdown clock.

Cimarron shot herself in the head with her family’s legally owned firearm while still online with McCartney.

Her younger sister found her.

Tragically, Cimarron’s father, Ben, took his own life 18 months later. When he died, he didn’t know why Cimarron had taken hers.

McCartney pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter in the death of Cimarron Thomas earlier this year.

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