Catfisher in Ireland drives devastated US dad and daughter to kill themselves

Warning: This article contains details readers may find distressing. Depraved’ Alexander McCartney, 26, tricked children into believing he was a young girl before luring them into sending him photos

A court has heard how a 12-year-old girl took her own life rather than give in to the sickening blackmail demands of the UK’s most prolific catfisher.

‘Depraved’ Alexander McCartney, 26, from Newry in the North of Ireland, tricked children into believing he was a young girl using platforms like snapchat and others, before luring them into sending him intimate photos.

He would then reveal the lie to his victims, taunting them and threatening to expose the photos they had sent unless they carried out ‘degrading and humiliating’ acts for him.

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The computer student tricked at least 70 victims in this way, but he is suspected of preying on thousands of girls, some as young as ten, using the computer in the bedroom of his family home in rural Northern Ireland.

Belfast Crown Court heard how one victim, 12-year-old Cimarron Thomas from West Virginia in the United States, took her own life using her father's handgun, rather than give into McCartney’s demands.

Posing as a girl under the name Sarah 131X McCartney tricked Cimarron into sending him intimate photos and then threatened to share them with her family unless she complied with his sick demands, prosecutor David McDowell, KC, told the court.

The “terrified and distraught” child begged McCartney to leave her alone but he told her he would start “spreading” the photos unless she gave him what he wanted. She messaged him saying “I will shoot myself…”

McCartney callously replied “Goodbye and good luck.” After the chat ended Cimarron’s younger sister found her sibling dead on the floor of their parent’s bedroom with a gunshot wound to the head and her father’s handgun nearby, the court heard.

Then, 18 months after the suicide her father, overcome by guilt and grief, took his own life, Mr McDowell said.

McCartney was later charged with her manslaughter despite the pair never having met. He admitted the offence along with a further 184 counts including blackmail, inciting a child to engage in sexual activity and producing and distributing indecent images of children.

The court heard how the “particularly callous” 26-year-old targeted victims aged 10 to 16, some of whom were gay or exploring their sexuality, he lied about his age and gender - posing as a fellow teen with insecurities about their body in order to trick his victims into sending pictures of themselves. Then he "degraded and humiliated them," the court was told.

The harm he caused is "unquantifiable", a barrister said, with much of the detail in the case too graphic and disturbing to report - the judge called it "excruciating” in a pre-sentence hearing. Some of the acts involved younger siblings or family pets.

In an impact statement, the grandparents of Cimarron Thomas said: "Our lives will never be the same. We didn't get to see her graduate, walk down the aisle or have children. We have been robbed of those memories. Our lives have changed forever."

McCartney has been on remand in prison since 2019 when he was arrested following a police investigation sparked after a girl in Scotland reported she was the victim of catfishing. He targeted victims in Britain, Australia, New Zealand and the US.

Mr Justice O'Hara said McCartney will be sentenced next week.

For confidential support call the Samaritans on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org in the UK.

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