A man was sentenced this Friday in Ireland to life imprisonment for 185 counts of child sexual abuse on the Internet, including more than 50 crimes of blackmailone of which led to suicide of a 12-year-old American girl.
The condemned, Alexander McCartney a 26-year-old computer science student, contacted girls from all over the world on messaging sites like snapchat and instagrammaking them believe they were talking to a teenage girl of a similar age online, a practice known as ‘catfishing’.
He would then encourage them to send indecent images or engage in sexual activity via webcam or mobile phone, which he would then share online with others and use to threaten and blackmail minors.
McCartney sometimes forced his victims to involve siblings as young as three years old in the abuse.
One of his victims, Cimarron Thomasa 12-year-old girl from West Virginia, He committed suicide in 2018 with his father’s gun after online sexual abuse and the blackmail of the computer science studentaccording to the court. The little girl’s lifeless body was found by her nine-year-old sister.
Judge John O’Hara told Belfast Crown Court: McCartney could be released in 2039.
McCartney, who pleaded guilty to all charges, remained crestfallen as the judge listed his crimes and stood with his eyes closed when the sentence was announced.
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