‘You’re gonna be my little toy for the night’: Vile Snapchats ‘Britain’s worst catfish’ Alexander McCartney sent to girl who he tricked into sending intimate photos before turning nasty
Britain’s worst catfish told a 12-year-old girl she would become ‘my little toy for the night’ on mean Snapchats after tricking her into sending intimate photos of herself.
Ailing Alexander McCartney admitted 184 offences, including blackmail and inciting a child to engage in sexual activity, in addition to the manslaughter of terrified Cimarron Thomas. She committed suicide rather than submit to his demands.
The 26-year-old from Newry, South Armagh, posed as a teenage girl as he contacted hundreds of other young girls, many of whom were gay or unsure of their sexuality.
Gruesome messages between him and one of his underage victims expose his perverse tactics as he jokes and flirts before suddenly turning nasty.
The former University of Ulster student reveals his crimes and switches from calling her ‘cute’ to threatening to flood the internet with her photos and reveling in his control over her.
He wrote, “Okay, I used a fake camera snap app. I have your face pic and nudes. You’re going to do as I say for tonight, and then I’ll leave afterwards.
A mugshot of ‘Britain’s worst catfish’ Alexander McCartney, who lived in Northern Ireland
Gruesome messages between Alexander McCartney and one of his underage victims expose his perverse tactics as he jokes and flirts before suddenly turning nasty.
“But if you don’t, I’ll upload everything online for everyone to see. Understand?’
The computer science student continues, “As long as you obey and do what I say, nothing will happen and I’ll leave you alone after tonight, understand?”
And in a chilling conclusion, he adds: “You’re going to be my little toy for the night.”
In the terrifying exchange, the young girl begins sending tantalizing, innocent messages full of emojis and love hearts.
But after McCartney’s identity is revealed, the tone changes tragically and she finds herself helpless in his trap.
“Now I’m scared,” she replies, before giving a one-word response to his sick demands.
Most of McCartney’s victims were between the ages of 10 and 16 and lived in Britain, Europe, America, Australia and New Zealand.
Prosecutor David McDowell spent 90 minutes describing how McCartney had “degraded and humiliated” his victims and showed no mercy when they begged him to stop.
Catfishing involves using a false identity online to befriend and exploit victims.
McCartney pretended to be a girl and befriended girls who were said to be struggling with sexuality.
He flattered them into getting a compromising photo and then used it to blackmail and threaten the teens into committing heinous acts.
Each victim was terrified that their intimate photos would be exposed to family and friends.
McCartney told a girl that he would have people come to her house and rape her if she didn’t comply.
When another said her mother was dying of cancer, he said, “I don’t care,” and continued his brutal abuse.
Prosecutors said he committed the abuse for his own sexual gratification.
It only ended after a girl in Scotland complained she was a victim of catfish and the largest catfish survey in Britain was launched.
In March 2019, police in Scotland contacted their counterparts in Northern Ireland about a 13-year-old girl who had been groomed by an adult using the alias of someone her age.
McCartney was tracked down and arrested. Police seized 64 devices and found tens of thousands of images of underage girls performing sex acts while being blackmailed.
Alexander McCartney (pictured), 26, operated from the bedroom of his family home in rural Northern Ireland, convincing young girls to send nude photos of themselves
His lawyers said McCartney had shown genuine remorse and had spent five years in custody since his arrest in 2019.
He had first contacted Cimarron Thomas in May 2018.
After receiving intimate photos, he attempted to blackmail her into carrying out his deviant demands.
Despite tearfully begging him to stop, McCartney threatened to send the photos to her father and friends.
When she refused his demands and said she would shoot herself, he cruelly began counting down and told her “goodbye and good luck.”
The boy was found dying by her nine-year-old sister.
A general view of Newry High Street in Northern Ireland, near where Alexander McCartney lived
Police investigating McCartney today released the 911 call from a neighbor who rushed to help the young girl.
McCartney used his technical knowledge as a computer science student to carry out his crimes, prosecutors said
Much of the call is muffled, but the 911 operator can be heard telling the neighbor to apply pressure to the head wound.
Cimarron’s 40-year-old father, a US Army veteran, took his own life 18 months after her death.
At the time, the family from a rural town had no idea why Cimarron had committed suicide.
It wasn’t until 2021, when police found a transcript of the conversation between Cimarron and McCartney, that they were able to tell them the reason for her death.
He had kept the online chat on his computer as a ‘trophy’.
Relatives told Mail Online that angry McCartney ‘might as well have pulled the trigger’ and were outraged he was not charged with murder.
They had hoped he would be extradited to the US, but State Department authorities say that will not happen.
Members of the Thomas family said the double tragedy had torn their family apart, with Cimarron’s mother Stephanie suffering from PTSD and unable to talk about her daughter’s death six years later.