Online ‘sexual predator’ sentenced to life in Northern Ireland after 12-year-old girl commits suicide

The charges relate to 70 victims from countries including the United Kingdom, the United States, Ireland and Australia, but Northern Irish police believe this is just one. A small fraction of the approximately 3,500 victims It is believed to have been attacked in about 30 countries. Condemned, Alexander McCartney, 26-year-old computer science student, Contacted girls around the world on messaging sites like Snapchat and Instagram, leading them to believe they were talking to a teen of similar age online, a practice known as ‘Catfishing’ (or identity theft).

He would then ask them for sexual photographs or encourage them to engage in sexual activities via webcam or mobile phone, which he would share with others online and use them to threaten and blackmail minors. On some occasions, as the trial revealed, McCartney forced his victims to involve siblings under the age of 3 in the abuse.

According to the court, one of his victims, 12-year-old West Virginia girl Cimarron Thomas, committed suicide with her father’s gun in 2018 after the computer science student was subjected to digital sexual exploitation and blackmail. The lifeless body of the little girl was found by her 9-year-old sister.

McCartney, who had pleaded not guilty to all charges, listened sadly as the judge recounted his crimes and stood with his eyes closed when the sentence was announced. Despite being sentenced to ‘life imprisonment’ under Irish law, Judge John O’Hara told Belfast Crown Court, McCartney He may be released in 2039.