A court has examined the particulars of the “depraved” misconduct of a Northern Ireland man, Alexander McCartney, involved in one of the world’s most extensive catfishing enquiries.
Belfast Crown Court was informed that one of Alexander McCartney’s victims, who resided outside the UK, committed suicide whilst being subjected to his blackmail.
A barrister characterised the case as “quite horrific” as the extent of his misdeeds was revealed.
Alexander McCartney, 26, has admitted 185 charges involving 70 child victims, but a sentencing hearing in Belfast was told there are “many, many more victims” who have not been identified.
He posed on the Snapchat social media platform as a teenage girl and befriended vulnerable girls. Alexander McCartney persuaded them to send sexual pictures before revealing the “catfish” and then blackmailed them into taking part in sex acts.
The offences covered a period from 2014 to 2019 with victims being identified all over the world, including Australia, New Zealand and the US.
McCartney, originally from Lissummon Road outside Newry, has been on remand in Maghaberry Prison since 2019.
Alexander McCartney has pleaded guilty to manslaughter, 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.
Prosecuting barrister David McDowell KC told the court that the offending McCartney had admitted to related to 70 victims.
Judge Mr Justice O’Hara asked if 70 was a minimum number.
Mr McDowell said: “There are many, many more victims, in all likelihood. The sentencing exercise is confined to those (70) victims but the suspected number is much, much higher that that.
“The offending concerns the defendant’s online exploitation of young girls aged between 10 and 16 on social media, primarily using the application Snapchat, but also Instagram and messenger sites.
“Alexander McCartney engaged in what is known as catfishing, that is pretending to be someone else – in his case, a young teenage girl – in order to deceive his victims into sending sexual images of themselves, before revealing his true intent and threatening them with exposure in order to force them to perform sexual acts on themselves and their very young siblings, or even on occasion a dog, before sending moving or still images to the defendant.
“His victims were located all over the world, in Northern Ireland and elsewhere in the UK and the Republic of Ireland, in continental Europe, New Zealand, Australia and the United States.
“The investigation has thus been international with co-operation from a number of other police forces and law enforcement agencies.”
Mr McDowell said the harm caused to victims was “unquantifiable”.
He added: “Alexander McCartney targeted young girls who were either gay or exploring their sexuality with other girls by posing as a young teenage girl who was struggling with body image and her sexuality and reaching out to others with similar issues, preying on their insecurity.”
The barrister said Alexander McCartney used his technical knowledge as a computer science student to carry out his crimes.
Describing the sexual acts Alexander McCartney forced his victims to undertake, Mr McDowell said “he degraded and humiliated them”.
He said: “Chat conversations recovered from his devices make for the most disturbing reading for any right-minded person and more so for any parent.
“They beg him to stop and plead for assurances their images will not be put on the internet or sent to friends and family members.
“Many are crying and tell him they are shaking.
“Some of the victims told him they would kill themselves as they pleaded with him to leave them alone.
“Others, in desperation, threatened to harm themselves, some doing so on camera.”
The court heard that Alexander McCartney told one girl he would get people to go to her house to rape her if she did not comply with his demands.
The barrister said Alexander McCartney had been arrested several times between 2016 and 2019 but continued to offend despite bail conditions.
He said: “Indeed, as time went on there was an escalation in the seriousness of his conduct in the form of the depravity of the demands he made of the subject children.”
Mr McDowell said a 12-year-old killed herself in May 2018 after he blackmailed her and tried to get her to involve her younger sister in sex acts.
When the girl pleaded with him to stop, the court was told that he threatened to send sexual images of her to her father.
The barrister said that after the girl’s death, her father “lost interest in life” and killed himself 18 months later.
Mr McDowell said the prosecution did not accept McCartney’s claim that he had started offending after becoming a victim of catfishing himself.
Defence barrister Greg Berry KC told the court: “It is not hyperbole to describe this case as quite horrific, but even in the most horrific cases the court is bound to look and see if there is mitigating features on behalf of a defendant.”
He pointed out that his client had pleaded guilty, had shown remorse and had no previous criminal record.
Mr Justice O’Hara said he would deliver sentence next week.
UPDATE 27.10.24
The disgraceful British justice system has once again failed child victims. With two killed by Alexander McCartney and many more scarred for life the Brits thought that a 20 year prison sentence was warranted. It is hard to imagine any other country giving such a lenient sentence so if you are planning to kill someone or sexually abuse a child, “paedo loving” Britain seems to be the place to do it if you want to have a second chance at life when you are caught.
A predator who befriended kids online before blackmailing them has been jailed for 20 years. Catfish Alexander McCartney has admitted 185 charges involving 70 children, although a court has previously been told that the real number of victims is much higher.
The 26-year-old, from Northern Ireland, posed as a young girl to befriend other girls on Snapchat. He would blackmail his victims after they shared intimate images, threatening them with their families and online.
Victims have been identified around the world, including 12-year-old Cimarron Thomas. The schoolgirl from West Virginia in the US shot herself in May 2018. Her suicide came after Alexander McCartney demanded her to involve her younger sister in sex acts.
Eighteen months later, her heartbroken father Ben Thomas also died by suicide. Alexander McCartney has pleaded guilty to manslaughter relating to Cimarron’s death. Today, he was jailed for life at Belfast Crown Court with a minimum term of 20 years.
his global web of catfishing, blackmail and sexual abuse is believed by police to have targeted about 3,500 children. The “terrified and distraught” child begged McCartney to leave her alone but he told her he would start “spreading” the photos unless she gave him what he wanted. She messaged him saying “I will shoot myself…”
McCartney callously replied “Goodbye and good luck.” After the chat ended Cimarron’s younger sister found her sibling dead on the floor of their parent’s bedroom with a gunshot wound to the head and her father’s handgun nearby, the court heard.
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