Alexander McCartney Sentenced to Life for Online Blackmail

Alexander McCartney, a 26-year-old from Northern Ireland, has been sentenced to life in prison for his extensive online predatory activities, which included the manslaughter of a 12-year-old girl, Cimarron Thomas, who took her own life in 2018. He targeted over 3,500 young victims across 30 countries, using social media platforms like Snapchat to pose as a teenage girl, coercing them into sending explicit images and then blackmailing them. The court found him guilty of 185 charges involving 70 children, including extortion and inciting sexual activity with minors. His actions were described as a