Man jailed for life for ‘fishing’ at least 70 minors and driving 12-year-old girl to suicide

CNN
—

A Northern Ireland man has been jailed for life for several crimes, including manslaughter, after he used social media sites to blackmail and sexually abuse at least 70 minors in several countries.

Alexander McCartney, 26, was convicted by a judge at Belfast Crown Court on Friday of sexual offenses against minors, blackmail and the manslaughter of a 12-year-old girl who took her own life in the United States in 2018 after being “caught”. This is stated in a statement by the Public Prosecution Service of Northern Ireland (PPS).

Catfishing – often used on social media, is when a person uses false information and images to create a fake persona online with the intent to deceive, harass, or defraud another person.

According to authorities, McCartney pretended to be a young girl, befriended the victims on social media and manipulated them into sending him nude images.

The victims were then threatened to “send him indecent images and videos of themselves, forcing them to engage in lewd and sometimes dangerous sexual acts,” the statement said.

McCartney, who targeted around 3,500 girls from Northern Ireland, Ireland, the UK, the US and New Zealand, sought to “exploit that vulnerability in the most shocking way”, PPS acting head of serious crime Catherine Kierans said.

“All of McCartney’s victims were young, innocent children” as young as 10 who were “struggling with identity and body image issues and seeking help on social media,” Kierans said.

In total, McCartney pleaded guilty to 185 charges against 70 victims. McCartney must serve at least 20 years in prison before he can be considered for parole.

“Sadly, one of his young victims, who was just 12 years old, took her own life during an online chat where he threatened her and coerced her into sexual acts,” Kierans said. She said that the girl, an American, and McCartney had never met in person.

CNN affiliate Virgin Media News reported that McCartney primarily used the popular social networking site Snapchat to target his victims.

In a statement provided to CNN, Snapchat said that “sexual exploitation of any person is horrific and illegal, and our hearts go out to the victims in this case.”

“If we detect or are notified of such activity, we remove it, block the offending account and report it to the authorities,” the social network said. He added that the app has “additional means of protection for teenagers, so that it is difficult for them to communicate with strangers.”

PPS is working to identify more of McCartney’s victims, according to his statement.