‘Catfish’ predator who drove American girl to suicide gets life in prison in Northern Ireland

A prolific “catfish” offender whose vicious campaign of global online blackmail targeted thousands of young victims and drove a 12-year-old American girl to suicide was sentenced to life in prison on Friday.

Alexander McCartney, 26, posed as a teenage girl online to befriend young women around the world via social media app Snapchat, forcing them to send him explicit photos and then threatening to make them public.

He admitted 185 charges involving 70 children and was told he would spend at least 20 years behind bars.

Detective Chief Inspector Eamonn Corrigan, of the Police Service of Northern Ireland, said McCartney was a “disgusting child predator” whose offenses took place on an “industrial scale”.

“While in his childhood bedroom in Newry, Northern Ireland, he began his offending in his late teens and built what can only be described as a pedophile enterprise,” he told reporters outside court.

“McCartney is a dangerous, ruthless, cruel pedophile,” he added.

Cimarron Thomas from West Virginia in the United States took her own life in May 2018 after McCartney demanded that she involve her younger sister in sexual acts he forced her to do.

Eighteen months later, her distraught father Ben Thomas also died by suicide.

Belfast Crown Court previously heard other victims had occurred in the United States as well as Australia and New Zealand.

– ‘Sexually deviant’ –

Sentencing McCartney, Judge John O’Hara said he was not aware of any other case where a perpetrator had used social media to cause “such terrible and catastrophic harm to young girls, up to and including the death of a 12-year-old birthday girl”.

“It’s really hard to think of a sexual deviant who poses a greater risk than this defendant,” he added.

O’Hara said McCartney had been “ruthless” in his transgressions and had ignored “multiple pleas for mercy”.

Even after his third arrest, he said, the former computer science student continued to offend in “an even more sinister, dramatic and abhorrent manner.”

McCartney previously pleaded guilty to manslaughter in connection with Cimarron’s death.

Corrigan told reporters that McCartney had even started the countdown when Cimarron threatened to commit suicide with a legal firearm, telling her, “I don’t care.”

“He might as well have pulled the trigger himself,” he added. “There is only one place for him, and that is behind bars.”

McCartney also admitted 59 counts of blackmail, dozens of charges relating to taking and distributing indecent photographs and many more of inciting children to engage in sexual activity.

– ‘Horrible’ –

Police in Northern Ireland worked internationally with other forces to bring him to justice.

Derek Gordon, the US Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations based in Washington DC, praised the investigation and prosecution of McCartney by Northern Irish counterparts as “nothing short of brilliant”.

“Alexander McCartney has committed a number of horrific and disturbing crimes and deserves every minute he spends in prison,” he said.

Catherine Kierans, from the Crown Prosecution Service of Northern Ireland, said McCartney estimated he targeted 3,500 girls, some as young as 10 years old.

However, despite exhaustive efforts, it is possible that many of his victims will never be identified.

She urged every child and young person to seek help if they are threatened by someone demanding sexual images or videos.

“This is a crime. It is not your fault. Please talk to an adult you trust,” she said, praising the courage of the victims who helped convict McCartney.

And she called on parents and carers to talk to their children to keep them safe online.

“It is by bringing these issues into the open that we can break the cycle of secrecy abusers,” she said.

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