2 hours ago
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A court has heard that a 12-year-old girl took her own life rather than comply with an online abuser's demands.
Alexander McCartney, 26, of Lissummon Road outside Newry, pleaded guilty to manslaughter earlier this year after the girl killed herself.
McCartney has previously admitted 185 charges, including more than 60 child victims.
He is being sentenced for a litany of crimes in what has been described as “the UK's largest catfishing case”.
Throughout the hearing on Thursday, McCartney sat in the dock looking downwards at his feet, with his hands covering his ears.
But the court could hear every word of the heart-breaking detail of his campaign of abuse.
Catfishing involves the use of a false identity online to befriend and exploit victims.
In this case, it involved the severe sexual exploitation of young girls aged 10 to 16 on social media, mostly Snapchat.
Pretending to be a girl, McCartney found and befriended girls who were said to be struggling with sexuality all over the world.
He used flattery to get a compromising photograph and then use it to blackmail and threaten the children into committing appalling acts or he would publish the images online.
More to follow.
