NAOMI LONG, the Justice Minister for Northern Ireland, has called for victims of a prolific online abuser who caused the death of a 12-year-old girl to come forward.
Alexander McCartney was sentenced to life imprisonment on October 25 for child sexual offences, blackmail and manslaughter.
The 26-year-old groomed and sexually abused thousands of young girls from Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland, Great Britain, the US and New Zealand from his home in Co. Armagh.
Alexander McCartney has been sentenced to life imprisonmentHe was prosecuted by the Public Prosecution Service for Northern Ireland (PPS) on 185 charges, which he eventually pleaded guilty to, including the manslaughter of 12-year-old Cimarron Thomas in the US, who took her own life as a direct result of the online abuse he inflicted on her.
Pretending to be a young girl, McCartney befriended victims on social media sites and manipulated them into sending him an initial nude image of themselves.
He then quickly revealed himself as a ‘catfish’ – someone who takes on a false online identity to target victims - and threatened thousands of terrified children into sending him indecent images and videos of themselves, forcing them to engage in depraved and sometimes dangerous sexual acts.
On October 25, a judge at Belfast Crown Court sentenced McCartney to a minimum 20 years behind bars.
Following the sentencing, acting head of the PPS Serious Crime Unit, Catherine Kierans said: “Every case involving child sexual offences is disturbing and causes long-lasting harm to victims.
“However, McCartney’s depravity was such that this is one of the most distressing and prolific cases of child sexual abuse we have ever seen in the PPS.
“The damage McCartney caused to so many young lives is immeasurable.”
Cimarron Thomas, 12, took her own life as a direct result of the online abuse McCartney inflicted on herShe added: “All McCartney’s victims were young, innocent children.
“Some of the estimated 3,500 girls he targeted, who were as young as 10, were already struggling with identity and body image issues and had reached out for help on social media.
“He sought to exploit that vulnerability in the most shocking ways.
“Some children pleaded for him to stop the abuse but he callously continued, at times forcing the victims to involve younger children, some aged just four.
“Tragically, one of his young victims, who was just 12, had taken her own life during an online chat in which he was threatening her and forcing her to engage in sexual activity.
“The two had never met in person. Working closely with police, the prosecution team was able to establish to the criminal standard that McCartney’s actions had caused the girl’s death and he had a case to answer for manslaughter.
“McCartney eventually pleaded guilty to killing the girl.
"We believe this to be the first time an abuser anywhere in the world has been held accountable for manslaughter where the victim and perpetrator have never met in person.”
Ms Kierans addd that while McCartney’s convictions secured justice for his victims, some of them have never been identified despite the efforts of investigators.
Justice Minister Long has since called on anyone who may have been targeted by McCartney to come forward.
"I would certainly encourage anyone who has been abused in this way by McCartney or by others to come forward to their local police to tell what is happening," she said.
"Many of these children were terrified of what would happen to them if they were to say what they had done because they felt guilty about their behaviours.
"Nobody should ever feel frightened having been put in this situation,” she added.
“They are the victim and if somebody is being blackmailed in this way I would really encourage them to reach out for help.
"You will be treated as a victim and not a criminal."
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