Catfishing abuser admits girl’s manslaughter

Alexander McCartney, 25, has pleaded guilty to 185 charges involving more than 60 victims. The case involved using a fake identity to commit the online abuse, exploitation and blackmail of children. The manslaughter victim, who was not from the UK, killed herself in 2018. The media had previously not been able to report on McCartney’s guilty pleas.

McCartney, from the rural Lissummon Road area just a few miles outside Newry, first appeared in the city magistrates’ court in late July 2019. He has since been on remand at Maghaberry Prison. As well as the manslaughter charge he has pleaded guilty to 59 counts of blackmail. Police discovered thousands of images of young girls in various states of dress and undress, performing various sexual acts.

McCartney said he would upload the image to the internet if she did not do what he asked. The young girl who took her own life cannot be named due to law changes in Northern Ireland last year.

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