Warning: This article contains discussion of suicide and child sexual abuse which some readers may find distressing.
A 26-year-old man has been sentenced to life in prison with at least 20 years before being eligible for parole after being the perpetrator of the 'largest UK catfish case'.
Northern Ireland man Alexander McCartney today (25 October) received his sentence after admitting to 185 charges against 70 children.
Investigators believe that there could be many more victims of his, as many as 3,500, from the catfishing and child abuse he carried out from his bedroom.
His victims were children around the world who he would target over social media and then blackmail.
Police said in a press release that they had seized a total of 64 devices belonging to McCartney which contained 'tens of thousands of photos and videos of underage girls performing sexual acts whilst being blackmailed'.
The messages he sent to his victims appeared to follow a similar pattern as he pretended to be a girl of a similar age to his victims.
McCartney, who detectives described as a 'disgusting child predator', would then send the children messages asking for indecent images, then threaten to expose the pictures unless they did what he said.
He would also threaten to share the pictures online with paedophiles to further abuse his victims, Police Service of Northern Ireland said.
Officers explained that he would sometimes take on the identities of children he had abused in order to trick future victims, creating a series of fake accounts.
Among his victims was a 12-year-old girl from the US, Cimarron Thomas, who took her own life in 2018 after McCartney threatened her and demanded that she get her younger sister involved in the abuse.
18 months after her death, Cimarron's father Ben died by suicide.
In March 2024, McCartney pleaded guilty to the 12-year-old girl's manslaughter.
A father of two of McCartney's victims said that his daughters, aged 12 and 10 at the time, were in blackmailed by him in 2017.
He said: "As parents you do your best to shield and protect your children from the monsters of the world, only to find out too late the dangers of the internet are all too real and that you weren't vigilant enough.
“Having both of our daughters involved is gut-wrenching. Within the four walls of our home they should be safe, and he manipulated and preyed on their innocence for his own sick enjoyment.
“My wife and I are so thankful that our eldest daughter spoke up. The impact this ordeal has had on her mental health, her ability to trust, and in forming quality relationships with others cannot be understated. We love that despite all of that she was strong enough to play her part in bringing him to justice.
"We hope the publicity around cases like this helps others come forward, no matter how difficult it is, to flush out these predators and protect both those at risk, and those who have already been abused.
"Our hope is that our children can move on and enjoy the full lives they deserve, and that they aren't defined by this unimaginable trauma and burden that they will carry with them forever. We will never forgive and we never forget the horrific things this predator has done."
If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence, please don’t suffer alone. Call Samaritans for free on their anonymous 24-hour phone line on 116 123.
Featured Image Credit: PSNITopics: UK News, Crime, World News, Technology
Joe Harker