Armagh Man Sentenced to Life for Manslaughter and Child Abuse of Young Girl

A 26-year-old Armagh man sentenced to life for several offences of child abuse of young girl, 12 years old only. A minimum of 20 years of incarceration is ruled out by the judge for manslaughter and more than 180 child abuse offences.
Alexander McCartney is the Armagh man sentenced to life for catfishing young girls. He used to pretend to be a teenage girl and befriend young girls all over the globe. He belongs to Lissummon Road outside Newry.
The court hearing was expected to begin at 2 pm for the facilitation of the families of the victims via video link. Their families can watch it according to their own time zones.
Several offences via Snapchat
He pleaded guilty to a total of 185 child abuse offences with more than 70 young girls who were victims of his catfishing. The girls aged between 10 and 16 years, became targets of his fake friendship via social media platforms, mainly Snapchat.
There were even more than 50 blackmail offences and the catfishing of children from 2013 to 2019.
One of the 185 stories includes that of Cimarron Thomas which involves her manslaughter. The girl was forced to take her own life due to McCartney‘s extreme blackmailing. Cimarron Thomas lived in West Virginia, US.

Police have predicted his total number of victims to be approximately 3,500.
The victims were located in Britain, the US, continental Europe, Australia, New Zealand, the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland and 28 other countries.
What did Alexander McCartney actually do?
The case of Alexander McCartney is known as one of the “UK’s largest catfishing cases” for horrendous online child abuse.
Catfishing involves making a fake online identity to befriend and exploit victims through the internet. The victim does not get to know who is on the other side of the screen.
With the same power in his hands, he exploited his victims with fear that led to the devastation of their own lives, even leading to manslaughter.
Thousands of children globally were affected by his actions, who were easily accessed via Snapchat. In some other instances, he made use of Instagram and Kik.
McCartney would use photos of other girls online to make his fake online identity. Once he befriended little girls, he would ask for their photos. After getting them, he would blackmail them, not for money but for more extreme photos.
He told his victims that if they did not obey him, he would send their photos to their friends and family.
The young and naive girls were even forced to involve their younger siblings; not sparing family pets and objects.
Adding to his disgusting victim nature, he even sent pictures to paedophiles and kept records of chats with his victims.
His absolute torture was even revealed when templates of chat with his victims were found by the police.
He humiliated and degraded the girls and always replied when they begged him for mercy that he did not care and he didn’t “give a shit”.
Cimarron Thomas: His victim
The case of Cimarron Thomas is highlighted because of McCartney’s blackmail tactics that led to the little girls’ manslaughter.
In 2018, McCartney sent a message to the girl. After praising her, he somehow made her send him her own picture.
It was then that he launched his abuse campaign. He kept asking for more pictures and threatened her that if she did not, he would tell her parents.
He further blackmailed her and asked to involve her younger sister too, to which Cimarron Thomas refused.
She said she would kill herself, but McCartney said he did not care.
The girl got her family’s legally held firearm and shot herself in the head while still being online with McCartney.
18 months later, her father, Ben also attempted suicide. He did not even know Cimarron’s reason for doing so.

Details of Armagh man sentenced to life
Alexander McCartney was sentenced to 20 years, from which five years were his prison years on demand. The rest of the 15 years would be his actual serving years before his release.
The judge’s sentence
With his head down in the Belfast Crown Court, McCartney sat quietly when Justice John O’Hara passed the judgement.
The judge explained the reasons for his improvement and enlisted all the offences that led to his life sentence.
The judge mentioned the losing list of changes that the offender admitted. According to Mr O’Hara, it was not necessary to go into details about the “full horrors” of child abuse of young girls that McCartney confirmed. It was utter “sadism and depravity” of what was “a quite horrific case”, the judge said.
The judge also thanked PSNI and law enforcement agencies of the world who had collaborated to bring justice to the child victims and brought McCartney to court for his final verdict.
A gruesome child predator finally meets his fate
PSNI Detective Ch Supt Eamonn Corrigan was satisfied that such a horrid villain was sentenced to life as, according to her, he was “nothing but a disgusting child predator”.
She revealed that 64 devices that belonged to McCartney had tens of thousands of photos and videos of young girls who were forced to perform sexual acts while they were online and being blackmailed.
Soon, the police got to know that he had victims all over the world and the police needed to act fast.
With deeper investigations, it was unveiled that he used the same pattern for all girls. He would groom the victims to believe that the other side of the screen has a girl talking to them who is the same age as theirs.
“As far as I am concerned there is only one place for McCartney and that is behind bars. I am glad his offending has been uncovered and that it has today been taken seriously by our criminal justice system,” Det Ch Supt Corrigan said.
The detective was happy that they had been able to get the first manslaughter villain residing in a foreign jurisdiction, although the “immeasurable damage” is irreversible, said Catherine Kierans, the acting head of PPS Serious Crime Unit.
FAQs
1. Who is Alexander McCartney, and what crimes was he convicted of?
Alexander McCartney, a 26-year-old from Armagh, was convicted of over 185 child abuse offences, including the manslaughter of a 12-year-old girl named Cimarron Thomas. His crimes involved catfishing young girls online, blackmailing them, and exploiting them through social media platforms like Snapchat, Instagram, and Kik.
2. What is catfishing, and how did McCartney use it in his crimes?
Catfishing is the act of creating a fake online identity to deceive others. McCartney posed as a teenage girl to gain young girls’ trust and then manipulated them into sharing personal photos. He would then use these images to blackmail his victims into sending more explicit content, often threatening to expose them to their families if they refused.
3. How many victims were impacted by McCartney’s actions?
McCartney’s actions reportedly affected over 3,500 young girls worldwide, with police uncovering thousands of images and videos on 64 devices he owned. His victims were located across Britain, the United States, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and more than 28 other countries.
4. Who was Cimarron Thomas, and how was she affected by McCartney’s abuse?
Cimarron Thomas was a 12-year-old girl from West Virginia, USA, who became one of McCartney’s victims in 2018. After McCartney blackmailed her extensively, she tragically took her own life. Her father later attempted suicide due to the unknown reasons behind her death, which came to light later during the investigation.
5. How did the judge respond to the severity of McCartney’s crimes?
Justice John O’Hara at Belfast Crown Court sentenced McCartney to a minimum of 20 years, including five years in prison, before the possibility of release. He described McCartney’s actions as “sadistic” and “depraved,” expressing gratitude to international law enforcement for bringing McCartney to justice.