‘Catfish killer used my photo to trap other girls’

A teen blackmailed into sending explicit images to catfish slayer Alexander McCartney has told of her choler that helium utilized her photograph to trap different young girls.

Emily (not her existent name) was targeted by McCartney successful 2018.

At the clip she was 14 and surviving successful Oregon, successful the US.

"I had sent nude photos with my look successful them," she said.

"That’s however it started."

McCartney, 1 of the world’s astir prolific online enactment offenders, was jailed for astatine slightest 20 years successful October.

Emily is among 3 of his young victims to person spoken to the makers of a BBC Three documentary Teen Predator/Online Killer.

McCartney pleaded blameworthy to a litany of kid enactment offences and the manslaughter of 12-year-old Cimarron Thomas, who took her ain beingness minutes aft an online chat with him successful 2018.

More than 3,500 victims were identified successful Belgium, Canada, Croatia, Colombia, Denmark, Germany, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Mexico, the Netherlands, Norway, New Zealand, Poland, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden and the US arsenic good arsenic the UK.

McCartney, who is from Northern Ireland, posed arsenic a teenage miss called Chloe to instrumentality Emily and others into sending photographs.

He would past usage a pre-typed connection to uncover himself arsenic an online predator.

"My bosom dropped retired of my chest," said Emily.

"And I conscionable felt my full satellite collapsing astir me. It was precise scary."

Despite the standard and breadth of McCartney’s offending lone 4 children went to the police.

Emily did not archer anyone astir her maltreatment until she was contacted by US Homeland Security successful 2021.

"It tore immoderate of my innocence retired sending those photos," she added.

She besides felt trapped, paranoid and was surviving successful fearfulness of encountering "Chloe" face-to-face.

"I don’t retrieve the timeline. I conscionable retrieve it ended," she said.

"I ne'er knew if they’d interaction maine again oregon if they knew wherever I lived."

McCartney created a illustration connected Snapchat utilizing Emily’s picture.

"He utilized my representation to catfish different girls. And that does marque maine angry," she said.

Exclusive footage from McCartney’s constabulary interviews has besides been made nationalist for the archetypal time.

It shows him slumped implicit the table and with his caput successful his hands - a stance helium besides adopted during caller tribunal proceedings.

He replied "no comment" to astir each questions.

Det Sgt Neil McInnes of the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI), who led the investigation, revealed however McCartney’s phones and computers contained "page aft page" of photographs showing young girls successful assorted states of undress "doing each antithetic things to themselves".

Some 232,000 images were recovered connected conscionable 1 device.

"The archetypal download shows maine the largest fig of archetypal procreation images to beryllium captured connected a device, surely wrong the UK, perchance worldwide," helium said.

"It’s beyond the realms of my caput space. It’s huge."

The documentary details however the PSNI worked with instrumentality enforcement agencies overseas to bring McCartney to justice.

"Ivy", from Hawke’s Bay successful New Zealand, told constabulary determination what had happened aft her relative came to her aid.

She told the documentary-makers however McCartney entrapped her erstwhile she was 12 and astatine a susceptible constituent successful her life.

"I was precise overmuch a nerd," she explained.

"The benignant of kid that would punctual the teacher we had homework. It was hard making friends.

“Everyone had started getting into crushes and relationships but I had ne'er experienced thing to bash with that. So I felt pressured to commencement figuring things out.

"A miss added maine connected Snapchat - idiosyncratic my age."

She described however she felt "weirded retired and flattered astatine the aforesaid time".

After receiving pictures, she sent "a precise tame intersexual image, and that’s erstwhile everything switched".

When McCartney began to blackmail her, she was "confused and frightened and successful disbelief" and "didn’t cognize what other to bash but comply".

McCartney began committing his crimes erstwhile helium was a teen astatine school, and continued erstwhile helium went to assemblage to survey machine science.

One of McCartney’s erstwhile friends, Lee, recounted however McCartney was "super-interested" successful computers and "always figuring worldly out".

"I didn’t springiness it a 2nd thought. But definitely, looking backmost astatine it - you deliberation you cognize who idiosyncratic is, and you don’t," helium said.

"To radical extracurricular our relationship group, helium could person been seen arsenic a spot of a loner and a weirdo.

"It’s precise casual to illustration what a predator is like. But helium wasn’t similar that erstwhile helium was with us."

Lee said the daze of learning what McCartney had done has had a profound effect connected him.

He said helium looked backmost "at each small enactment I had with him, racking my caput astir it".

"I’m definite everybody other who knew him has done the same," helium added.

"I hatred everything astir this situation. It’s a nightmare to deliberation astir and I’m conscionable gladsome cipher other is going to get hurt."

Detectives, prosecutors and victims told the documentary-makers however important it was that anyone suffering online maltreatment should consciousness capable to study it.

"Violet", from Virginia Beach successful the US, came guardant to a constabulary serviceman based successful her school.

She said she thought that catfishing was "such a airy word for this situation".

"To me, being catfished means you are connected a Tinder illustration and your pictures look antithetic to what you look similar successful existent life," she said.

"That is not what this was. I reported him (McCartney) and helium got caught."

She wanted to promote different victims to talk retired "because you ne'er cognize the magnitude of what you are dealing with".

Ivy, from New Zealand, said: "There are decidedly excessively galore girls who person been done thing akin to what I person been done and person conscionable ne'er spoken up.

"Talking astir it decidedly helps.

"I similar who I americium nowadays."

Teen Predator/Online slayer is disposable connected BBC iPlayer. It is simply a co-commission for BBC Northern Ireland and BBC Three by DoubleBand Films.

If you person been affected by the issues raised successful this communicative you tin sojourn the BBC Action Line for support.