Article source: HK01 on 2024-10-27 14:16:54 – The news is taken from major news media. The news content does not represent the position of this website!
According to comprehensive British media reports, a 26-year-old British man pretended to be a young woman on the Internet and forced underage women he knew to send nude photos; according to local police, the victims came from more than 30 countries and numbered as many as 3,500. The incident led to at least one 12-year-old girl and her father committing suicide; the man pleaded guilty and was eventually sentenced to life in prison.
Alexander McCartney, a man from Northern Ireland, used social media to impersonate young women from 2013 to 2019, targeting underage girls, sending them nude photos during online chats, and inducing them to send nude photos to him. These photos are then used to make threats. If the victim refused, he threatened to release nude photos of the victim.
A local court heard testimony from young victims who accused McCartney of online abuse. Some victims said that they felt ashamed after the incident, even suffered from hair loss and emotional crisis, could not accept the approach of men, and some even had suicidal thoughts.
The most serious crime McCartney committed was in May 2018, when he pretended to be a woman online and contacted Cimarron Thomas, a 12-year-old girl from Virginia. He initially complimented her appearance and offered to dress her up before enticing her to send a nude photo.
On October 25, 2024, the Northern Ireland Police issued a statement on its website. Alexander McCartney, 26, was involved in “fishing for friends” online and used nude photos to threaten underage girls, leading to the suicide of a 12-year-old girl. McCartney pleaded guilty to manslaughter and was sentenced to life in prison. (Police Service of Northern Ireland website)
According to reports, the girl was later asked by McCartney to provide more nude photos. If she didn’t provide more photos, McCartney would post a photo of him holding it online. The girl eventually committed suicide by swallowing a gun due to unbearable pressure; 18 months later, the girl’s father also died due to excessive grief.
Investigators said McCartney attempted to contact a total of 3,500 underage girls from more than 30 countries including the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand. Ultimately, he pleaded guilty to 185 charges, including manslaughter, extortion, inciting children to engage in sexual activity, and producing and distributing indecent images of children, involving approximately 70 minor victims.
Contacted a 12-year-old girl from Virginia, Cimarron Thomas, who eventually committed suicide by swallowing a gun due to unbearable pressure; 18 months later, the girl’s father also died due to excessive grief. (Police Service of Northern Ireland website)
The local court said McCartney “degraded and humiliated” his victims for his own sexual gratification, causing “unquantifiable” harm and whose lives would be changed forever.
The Police Service of Northern Ireland welcomed the verdict, describing the case as “one of the most distressing and high-volume cases of child sexual abuse” they have ever seen and the defendant “is an extremely abhorrent child predator”.
