NI man in catfish case to be sentenced over manslaughter
by Vincent Kearney, https://www.facebook.com/rtenews/ · RTE.ieAn Armagh man who was the subject of one of the largest investigations in the world into so-called catfishing is to be sentenced for the manslaughter of a 12-year-old girl and more than 180 other charges relating to child abuse.
Alexander McCartney, from Lissummon Road outside Newry, pretended to be a teenage girl to target children across the world.
The 26-year-old pleaded guilty to a total of 185 offences involving 70 young girls who were aged between 10 and 16 when they were targeted via social media platforms, mostly Snapchat.
They included the manslaughter of Cimarron Thomas from West Virginia in the US, who took her own life because she was blackmailed by him.
The former computer science student deceived the child into sharing intimate images and then threatened to share them with her father and other family members and friends unless she sent more images.
Eighteen months later, in January 2020, Cimarron's heartbroken father Ben Thomas also took his own life.
McCartney did the same to his other young victims, using false identities to befriend and then exploit them.
His offences included inciting children to engage in sexual activity and 59 counts of blackmail.
Police identified and contacted victims in Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland, Britain, continental Europe, the US, Australia and New Zealand.
Northern Ireland's Public Prosecution Service has described it as the largest and most complex sexual offences case it has handled.
In a pre-sentence hearing, a prosecution lawyer told Belfast Crown Court there were likely to be many more victims who had not been identified and that the harm he had caused was "unquantifiable".
Mr Justice John O'Hara is due to pass sentence this afternoon. The time was chosen to accommodate victims and their families in different time zones across the world who will watch via video link.
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