Alexander McCartney convicted by British court for “catfishing” thousands of people, including American woman who died by suicide

A Northern Ireland man was sentenced to a minimum of 20 years in prison on Friday after being found guilty in a British court in what was described as the country's largest criminal case of 'catfishing' . Alex McCartney, 26, pleaded guilty earlier this year to manslaughter in a Northern Ireland court after the suicide of a young American woman who was among thousands of alleged victims he blackmailed online.

McCartney had admitted in court to a total of 185 charges involving 70 child victims – including blackmail, inciting a child to engage in sexual activity and making and distributing indecent images of children. He was also found guilty of the death of 12-year-old Cimarron Thomas in West Virginia, according to the British news agency Press Association.

Thomas, who lived in West Virginia with her mother, father and siblings, committed suicide in May 2018. During her online interactions with McCartney, authorities say he tried to coerce her into sending graphic images involving a younger brother.

Cimarron Thomas, a young girl from West Virginia who, at the age of 12, was among the victims of British pedophile Alex McCartney. Courtesy of the family of Cimarron Thomas

McCartney was already under investigation at the time and was about to face charges from British investigators when authorities discovered Cimarron's identity and the circumstances of his death, reported CBS News' sister network, BBC News, on Friday.

Thomas' father, a U.S. Army veteran, committed suicide 18 months after his daughter, without knowing the circumstances of Cimarron's death.

Jim Gamble, a former senior British police officer specializing in child safety, told BBC News it was a “shocking case”.

“The magnitude of the situation and the horrific nature of the harm inflicted on these young girls makes it one of the worst I have ever seen,” Gamble said, adding: “Don't look at this and think that this is happening very rarely.”

Detective Chief Superintendent Eamonn Corrigan of the Police Service of Northern Ireland's Criminal Operations Department issued a statement on Friday, calling McCartney “nothing more than a disgusting child predator who posed as young girls online to groom, manipulate and sexually abuse his victims, from the age of four.” , to satisfy his own sexual perversions and those of other online child sex offenders.”

Alexander MaCartney, 26, was sentenced to life in prison with a minimum of 20 years after being found guilty at a Belfast court of 185 charges involving 70 child victims. Northern Ireland Police document

McCartney's crimes occurred between 2014 and 2019, when police estimate he targeted around 3,500 victims, primarily via Snapchat, around the world, including Australia, New Zealand and the United States. according to the Press Association. The case against him at Belfast Crown Court involved 70 child victims, including Thomas.

There was no immediate response from Snapchat to Friday's verdict against McCartney. The social messaging app was accused in September of having features that make it a favored platform for sex criminals targeting children, as part of a lawsuit filed by New Mexico against its parent company, Snap Inc.

An undercover state investigation found that Snapchat created “an environment in which predators can easily target children through sextortion schemes and other forms of sexual abuse,” Attorney General Raúl said Torrez in a press release.

In a statement responding to the New Mexico case, Snap said the app was designed “as a place to connect with a close circle of friends, with built-in safety guardrails,” and said stated that there were “deliberate design choices to make the task difficult”. for strangers to discover minors on our service.

“We continue to evolve our security mechanisms and policies, leveraging advanced technology to detect and block certain activities, banning suspicious accounts, working alongside law enforcement and government agencies, among others “, the company said, adding that it continued to work with “industry, government and law enforcement to exchange information and design stronger defenses.”

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