This article contains details readers may find distressing.
12-YEAR-OLD Cimarron Thomas received a message from a stranger on Snapchat at around 11pm on 9 May, 2018.
She was from West Virginia in the United States, and the message was from Alexander McCartney, who was posing as a young girl called Sarah.
McCartney was today sentenced to life with a minimum prison sentence of 20 years.
The sentencing judge Mr Justice O’Hara said that “within a short period”, McCartney obtained child sexual abuse images and video of Cimarron after “opportunistically” messaging her on Snapchat.
In a victim impact statement, Cimarron’s grandparents, Peggy and Dale Thomas, said their lives “will never be the same again” and that they have been “robbed” of their granddaughter.
McCartney’s deception involved posing as a young girl and he would sometimes use photographs of previous victims as part of his scheme.
He would encourage them to send him child sexual abuse images “through a combination of flattery and persuasion, complimenting them on their appearance and reassuring them that they were attractive”.
Some 15 minutes after sending these “compromising” images, McCartney warned Cimarron that she would have to do whatever he told her to, or else he would upload the images online for everyone to see, including all her Instagram followers.
McCartney messaged Cimarron over the next hour and 45 minutes on the night of 9 May, 2018 and demanded more child sexual abuse images.
In sentencing today, Mr Justice O’Hara said McCartney “ordered her to do multiple degrading and humiliating acts” and described the ordeal as a “nightmare”.
This included “demanding that Cimarron include her younger sister”.
McCartney told Cimarron that she could block him on social media and that he would delete the images he had been sent.
But the “nightmare” was not over.
Two nights later, McCartney contacted Cimarron on a different fake account.
Cimarron pleaded with McCartney to leave her alone but he would not.
He said she would have to “play” one more time if she wanted him to delete the images.
As McCartney’s demands became even more obscene, Cimarron said that she would “shoot herself”.
His reply was: “Goodluck and goodbye.”
He later said: “You will see what happens about tonight. I tried to be nice by offering to delete them for you.”
Three minutes after the conversation ended, Cimarron was found dead by her nine-year-old sister.
Cimarron had previously informed her parents that she thought she might be bisexual, and Mr Justice O’Hara said that at the time of her death, “there was no other reason that anyone was aware of” that might have led Cimarron to die by suicide.
McCartney befriended vulnerable girls aged between 10 and 16 who were gay or exploring their sexuality and once he had secured a picture from his victims, he would then reveal the “catfish” and blackmail them into taking part in sex acts.
Some 18 months later, in January 2020, Cimarron’s father died by suicide “after losing interest in life”.
On 20 January, 2021, Homeland Security in the United States contacted the PSNI and informed them that Cimarron had died by suicide after being online with McCartney.
But it was not until April 2021 that the Thomas family would know the truth about Cimarron’s death, that she was blackmailed by McCartney.
Cimarron’s grandfather, who lost his granddaughter and son, said: “The life we lived and the future we planned does not exist anymore.”
“That is something that we will never, ever get over,” he added.
Mr Justice O’Hara said during sentencing that “this disastrous chain of events was triggered by McCartney in the space of two-and-a-half hours over two nights.”
Mr Justice O’Hara added that “it is clear beyond doubt” that McCartney was remorseless at the time.
McCartney pleaded guilty to Cimarron’s manslaughter.
Three other instances were uncovered of young girls telling McCartney that they would self-harm or take their own life due to his demands.
When one girl told McCartney that she would cut her arm, McCarney said “idc”, which means “I don’t care.”
Victims of sex offences in Northern Ireland entitled to anonymity but this was waived in respect of Cimarron Thomas.
A judge at Belfast Crown Court agreed there was a public interest in lifting the anonymity order, after applications from several media organisations.
In victim impact statements, victims said they felt depression, anxiety, stress, and shame.
Some have made suicide attempts and report having suicidal ideation, and they reported finding it difficult to trust others.
Mr Justice O’Hara said that McCartney “wanted to see how far he could push the victims and to see how far he could control them”.
He added that McCartney “rationalised his abuse by pretending that his victims were not real”.
Mr Justice O’Hara said it was “telling” that McCartney did not use the term “child or children” when speaking about the victims.
McCartney targeted girls aged between 10 and 16 due to their “vulnerability and naivety” and used social media on an “industrial scale to inflict catastrophic damage”.
The PSNI believe the true number of victims may be as high 3,500 victims.
Mr Justice O’Hara said McCartney was “remorseless” and that he “ignored multiple opportunities to stop, ignored multiple pleas for mercy, he lied and lied and then lied again”.
The judge added that McCartney was “cold” towards pleas from his victims and “lacking in human empathy”.
When one victim said she would take her own life and asked for McCartney to show mercy because her mother was dying from cancer, McCartney replied: “I do not give a shit about you or your mum.”
The judge said it was “difficult to think of a sexual deviant who poses a greater risk” than McCartney.
He noted that the “depravity” of McCartney’s actions escalated despite police investigations and several arrests and that this pointed to a high likelihood of re-offending.
McCartney has spent more than five years on remand at Maghaberry Prison and this was taken into consideration in his sentencing, which means he will be eligible for release until 2039.
If you have been affected by any of the issues mentioned in this article, you can reach out for support through the following helplines. These organisations also put people in touch with long-term supports:
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