A MAN FROM Co Armagh who was the subject of one of the world’s largest catfishing investigations has been sentenced to life, with a minimum prison sentence of 20 years.
Alexander McCartney was today sentenced in Belfast Crown Court for 185 charges of online child sexual abuse crimes and blackmail involving 70 children, although a court was previously told that the real number of victims is much higher.
The judge presiding over sentencing said that in some cases, the victim’s parents or guardians might not even know yet of what had been done to them.
The 26-year-old, originally from the Lissummon Road close to Newry in Co Armagh, posed as a young girl to befriend other girls on Snapchat before blackmailing them, with victims identified across the world.
He also used social media platforms including Instagram, Kik, and Omegle.
McCartney has spent more than five years on remand at Maghaberry Prison and this will be taken into consideration in his sentencing, which means he will be eligible for release until 2039.
He 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.
In some instances, he demanded his victims involve younger siblings.
McCartney was also sentenced for a manslaughter charge.
Twelve-year-old Cimarron Thomas from West Virginia in the US took her own life in May 2018 after she was blackmailed by McCartney.
Eighteen months later, her heartbroken father Ben Thomas also died by suicide.
McCartney pleaded guilty to manslaughter relating to Cimarron’s death.
Cimarron had told McCartney that she would take her own life due to McCartney’s demands, to which McCartney replied: “Good luck and goodbye.”
Anonymity was waived to allow Cimarron to be named and her grandfather said he will never get over the death of his granddaughter and son.
He admitted 59 counts of blackmail, dozens of charges related to making and distributing indecent photographs and scores of charges of inciting children to engage in sexual activity.
In one instance, McCartney informed a girl that he knew her location as a result of the map feature on Snapchat and that he would get people to go to her house to rape her if she did not comply with his demands.
The offences cover a period from 2014 to 2019 with victims being identified all over the world, including Australia, New Zealand and the US.
The judge, Mr Justice O’Hara, said McCartney’s actions exhibited “sadism and depravity” and added that it was “telling” that McCartney admitted to targeting girls aged between 10 and 15 due to their naivety.
Mr Justice O’Hara added that McCartney wanted to see how far he could push his victims and how much control he could exert over them.
He added that it was difficult to think of “a sexual deviant who poses more risk than this defendant”.
The judge thanked everyone involved in bringing McCartney to justice and said they are “owed a debt of gratitude and unwavering support”.
He added that the defendant acknowledged that it is “quite a horrific case” and that any mitigating circumstances “are minimal”.
While Mr Justice O’Hara said McCartney has exhibited some remorse, he remarked that this came after five years spent on remand.
The judge said that in sentencing, he took into consideration the lying, use of threats, involvement of the victim’s siblings, and the fact that much offending was committed while McCartney was on bail.
He noted that McCartney had several opportunities to stop offending and remarked on how McCartney never referred to “children” or a “child” when questioned on the offences.
McCartney began his offending as a 17-year-old and later used his technical knowledge as a computer science student to carry out his crimes.
He first came to police attention in 2016, when his home was raided by police.
However, the judge said the “depravity” of McCartney’s actions escalated despite police investigations and several arrests and that this pointed to a high likelihood of re-offending.
“I do not sense remorse or shame,” said Mr Justice O’Hara.
One text exchange from McCartney read: “I have your face pic and nudes. You are gonna do as I say for tonight and then I’ll leave after.
“But if you don’t then I’m uploading everything online for everyone to see. Understand?”
The reply read: “Now I’m scared.”
“Your gonna be my little toy for the night,” McCartney later wrote in a message.
The judge today said McCartney was “cold” towards pleas from his victims and “lacking in human empathy”.
In their victim impact statements, victims said their “childhoods had been stolen” and parents and guardians said
The PSNI’s Detective Chief Superintendent Eamonn Corrigan said the PSNI was contacted by Police Scotland in 2019 about a report of a 13-year-old girl who had been groomed by an adult believed to be living in Northern Ireland.
The PSNI seized 64 devices containing hundreds of thousands of indecent images and videos, as well as fake digital accounts that were being used by McCartney.
Corrigan explained that McCartney would “groom victims into believing they were talking online with a girl of a similar age, before encouraging them to send indecent images or engage in sexual activity via webcam or mobile phone”.
McCartney would share some of these images online with other paedophiles and use them to further blackmail the child victims.
“As far as I am concerned, there is only one place for McCartney and that is behind bars,” said Corrigan.
He said the sentencing should serve as a warning to others who are “hiding behind fake accounts and firewalls”.
“You will be caught,” said Corrigan, “and you will face the full force of the law when you are.”
Corrigan also said the offending of the catfish paedophile was on an “industrial scale”.
Speaking outside Belfast Crown Court afterwards Corrigan reflected on the judge’s comments that McCartney is a “dangerous, relentless, cruel paedophile”.
“There was nothing that was going to stop him, apart from putting him in jail.”
He said detectives had tried to identify as many of the victims as they could.
“Obviously, to charge and identify all those offences would be impractical, so a sample of cases were brought forward,” he said.
The senior detective added: “The scale of his offending, it was just on an industrial scale.
“He would offend right throughout the night. With Homeland Security and other law enforcement agencies, we have strived to identify as many children as possible, but unfortunately, with the passage of time, many young people deleted their accounts to stop the offending, and many young people have moved on.
“But we cannot underestimate the devastation that he has caused and the childhoods he has stolen.”
-With additional reporting from Press Association
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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