Chilling messages from prolific catfisher who drove lady, 12 and her dad to suicide

An online predator drove one of his catfish victims to take her own life while he was on a video call with her.

Alexander McCartney, 26, who admitted 185 charges involving 70 children, was given a life sentence with a minimum term by Mr Justice O’Hara at Belfast Crown Court today (October 25).

McCartney, who posed as a teenage girl to befriend young females on Snapchat before blackmailing them, is believed to be the UK’s most prolific catfish offender with victims identified across the world.

Twelve-year-old Cimarron Thomas from West Virginia in the US took her own life in May 2018 rather than comply with McCartney’s demands for her to involve her younger sister in sex acts.

Eighteen months later, her heartbroken father Ben Thomas also died by suicide.

McCartney previously pleaded guilty to manslaughter relating to Cimarron’s death.

He also admitted 59 counts of blackmail, dozens of charges related to making and distributing indecent photographs and scores of charges of inciting children to engage in sexual activity.

Victims were identified all over the world, including Australia, New Zealand and the US.

McCartney, originally from Lissummon Road outside Newry, Northern Ireland, used his technical knowledge as a computer science student to carry out his crimes.

His offending was carried out from the bedroom of his childhood home.

Police believe he may have targeted around 3,500 children.

The scale of the offending by McCartney stunned even the most experienced investigators, one describing it as a “paedophile enterprise.”

He would befriend girls between the ages of 10 and 16 who he would then persuade to send him topless photographs. Once he had the image, he would use it to blackmail the victims into performing sex acts.

McCartney first became known to police in Northern Ireland in 2016 when he was arrested in relation to indecent images of children found on his electronic devices. At this stage, no victims had been identifIed and he was bailed. He was arrested again on similar offences in 2018.

Despite the attention of police and bail conditions, McCartney continued to offend. He replaced phones and laptops which had been seized.

A prosecuting barrister told a pre-sentence hearing: “As time went on there was an escalation in the seriousness of his conduct in the form of the depravity of the demands he made of the subject children.”

In March 2019, Police Scotland contacted the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) in relation to a report of a 13-year-old girl who was being groomed by an adult suspect believed to be residing in Northern Ireland. McCartney had posed as a young girl to “catfish” the victim.

When police raided his home, he was in the middle of offending and Snapchat was open on one of his phones. Devices seized from his bedroom were found to contain hundreds of thousands of indecent photographs and videos of underage girls.

Detectives soon realised that McCartney’s offending had spread around the world. Working with colleagues in the US Homeland Security and the National Crime Agency, victims were located in the US, Australia, New Zealand and at least 28 other countries.

While many of the victims have never been traced, based on the images recovered from his electronic devices, they are believed to number about 3,500.

His victims always believed, at first, that they were talking online to a girl of a similar age. McCartney used images of previous victims to create new profiles, assuming their identities as he targeted new children.

He targeted young girls who were vulnerable or professing doubts about their sexual identity and body image. He would use this vulnerability to persuade them to send a photo.

Once he had the image, McCartney would go to the notes section of his phone where he had a pre-prepared statement which he would cut and paste into the conversation.

The message would typically say: “alright i used a fake camera snap app. i have your face pic and nudes. You are gonna do as i say for tonight and then ill leave after. But if you dont them im upoading everything online for everyone to see. understand?”

Although McCartney promised to leave the victims alone after one night, he often returned later to continue the abuse.

He would blackmail them into sending more images or engaging in sexual activity online, threatening to share the images with other paedophiles. He forced some children into abusing younger siblings or forced them to involve family pets and objects.

The source said: “His depravity knew no bounds, he was abusing on an industrial scale.”

On one occasion, it took McCartney only nine minutes from meeting a 12-year-old girl for the first time until he had groomed, blackmailed and abused her.

The source said: “He became so proficient doing this, it took minutes for him contacting someone to getting pictures.”

In several of the videos seized by police, victims are seen pleading with McCartney to stop. One little girl repeatedly said she would kill herself and her mum was dying from cancer. He replied: “I do not give a s**t about you or your mum.”

He told one victim who objected to his demands that he would get people to come to her house and rape her. Another who threatened to go to police was told: “I am secure, I have been doing this over a year.”

Crown Court judge Mr Justice O’Hara said transcripts of McCartney’s conversations with victims made for “excruciating reading”.

McCartney’s offending did not stop until he was remanded in custody in 2019. He was on remand in Maghaberry Prison until his sentencing.

In January 2021, McCartney was expected to plead guilty to close to 200 offences following one of the largest catfishing investigations anywhere in the world and one of the biggest criminal indictments in Northern Ireland’s legal history.

But the day before his court appearance, the PSNI was made aware that Cimarron, from West Virgina, had taken her own life in May 2018 after being blackmailed.

Detectives then travelled to the US to build a manslaughter case. As they investigated, they realised that McCartney was on an online call with Cimarron as she took her own life.

Detectives discovered McCartney had abused the girl some days earlier. She then returned to school believing her ordeal was over. But McCartney contacted her again, demanding she include her sister in the abuse.

During McCartney’s conversation with Cimarron, she pleaded with him to stop, telling him she would phone the police and take her own life.

He said he “did not care” and gave her a countdown before he threatened to send images of her to the first person on her contact list, her father.

Cimarron’s little sister found her body slumped in her parents’ bedroom. She died that night in hospital. Eighteen months later, Cimarron’s heartbroken father, Ben Thomas, also committed suicide.

Between 2021 and March 2024, McCartney pleaded guilty to a series of charges. This included manslaughter relating to the death of Cimarron, the first such case in the UK where the victim resided in a foreign jurisdiction and had never met her killer in person.

The source said: “These children were in their own houses, their own bedrooms, their place of safety.

“Often being abused with parents in the house. It was unimaginable, your worst nightmare.”

For emotional support, you can call the Samaritans 24-hour helpline on 116 123, email [email protected], visit a Samaritans branch in person or go to the Samaritans website

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