Alexander McCartney, a 26-year-old computer science student, caused Cimarron Thomas to use her father's handgun to shoot herself in the head rather than submit to his perverted demands. Her US army veteran father Ben later took his own life.
Read more: Follow all theDetectives missed key chances to stop Britain's worst catfisher while he preyed on 3,500 girls.
Her father Ben, a US Army veteran, took his own life after being consumed with guilt for leaving his gun where she could access it at their home in West Virginia.McCartney, from County Armagh, Northern Ireland, pleaded guilty to Cimarron's manslaughter and 184 other offences, relating to 70 sample cases, of blackmail and inciting a child to engage in sexual activity
His conduct only came to an end after a 13-year-old girl in Scotland revealed that she was a victim, and the UK's biggest catfishing investigation was launched in 2019. The missed opportunities to save potentially hundreds of girls are being investigated by the Northern Ireland Police Ombudsman. But one of her online friends – on the face of it a girl around her own age – was McCartney. After tricking her into sharing explicit photos of herself in 2017, he revealed she had been duped and told her to rope in her younger sister.
Advertisement Most of McCartney's victims, who lived in countries including Britain, Europe, America, Australia and New Zealand, were aged ten to 16 but some were as young as four. When she refused his demands and said she would shoot herself, he cruelly began a countdown and told her: 'Goodbye and good luck.'The family had no idea why Cimarron had committed suicide - the reason only came to light in 2021 when police in Northern Ireland found a transcript of the conversation between Cimarron and McCartney, which he had kept as a 'trophy' on his computer.
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Killer catfish abuser is jailed for 20 years: Alexander McCartney terrorised hundreds of underage...'Control the bleeding': 911 call details life-saving effort after girl shot herself. This is the moment a neighbour attempts to save Cimarron Thomas after she shot herself following the twisted demands of 'catfish' abuser Alexander McCartney.
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