Internet sex extortion of 3,500 girls from 30 countries led to the suicide of a beautiful father and his daughter, and a British man was sentenced to life in prison

A man from Northern Ireland has been convicted of sexually abusing and extorting underage girls through social media platforms like Snapchat and Instagram, with an estimated 3,500 victims across approximately 30 countries. This disturbing case even linked to the tragic death of a 12-year-old girl from the U.S. who took her own life along with her father. On October 25, the perpetrator was sentenced to life in prison, with no possibility of parole until 2039.

According to reports from the Belfast Crown Court, the 26-year-old defendant, Alexander McCartney, a computer science student, used his bedroom as a base to lure victims into believing they were chatting with peers of a similar age.

McCartney encouraged his victims to send lewd images or record sexual activities via webcam or smartphone. He then shared this content online and used it to threaten the underage girls.

He often impersonated the already victimized girls and sometimes coerced his victims’ siblings into participating, with one of those siblings being as young as three years old.

While the case currently involves 70 identified victims across countries including the UK, the U.S., Ireland, and Australia, Northern Irish police indicated that this number represents just a fraction of the total, with estimates suggesting about 3,500 victims worldwide.

During the investigation, authorities seized 64 devices containing hundreds of thousands of explicit images and videos, alongside the fake online accounts McCartney used.

Eamonn Corrigan, a senior detective with the Northern Ireland Police Service, commented, “His crimes operate on an industrial scale, and his moral depravity knows no bounds.”

One victim, Cimarron Thomas from West Virginia, tragically took her own life in 2018 using her father’s gun, with her body discovered by her younger sister, who was only nine at the time. Following this incident, Thomas’ father also reportedly took his own life.

Furthermore, the father of another victim from New Zealand expressed in a police statement, “We will never forgive or forget the horrific acts committed by this perpetrator.”