Catfisher who abused 70 young girls in 'horrif1c' case given life sentence

A man from Northern Ireland who abused at least 70 children online and drove one to suicide was sentenced to life in jail yesterday with a minimum term of 20 years in a "horrific" case that has caused 'catastrophic damage,' to young girls all over the world.

- Lisa O,C arroll

Alexander Mc Cartney, 26, had admitted to 185 charges including blackmail, inciting a child to engage in sexual activity and producing and distributing indecent images of children.

Mc Cartney was told he would spend at least 20 years in jail after a number of other sentences that he will serve concurrently were taken into account.

In one of the biggest investigations into catfishing, or sexual extortion, in the world, police found victims aged between 10 and 16 in the UK, Europe, Australia and New Zealand. Prosecutors said he had targeted about 3,500 children.

Mc Cartney, who posed as a young girl to befriend girls on Snapchat before blackmailing them, is believed to be the UKJs most prolific such offender.

Sitting at Belfast crown court, Justice OJHara said: "In my judgment, it is truly difficult to think of a sexual deviant who poses a greater risk than this defendant.

"There has not been a case such as the present where the defendant has used social media on an industrial scale to inflict such terrible and catastrophic damage on young girls, up to and including the death of a 12-year-old girl. The defendant was remorseless."