alexander mccartney admitted a 185 crimes involving 70 child victims. we're live at court. a bbc investigation uncovers fresh evidence about small boats crossing the channel — some organised out of germany. a new push for peace in the middle east — the us secretary of state is in london for talks with arab leaders. the stars come out for kamala — bruce springsteen and barack obama appear with the vice—president at an election rally. hello and welcome to bbc news now, 3 hours of fast—moving news, interviews and reaction. one of the world's most prolific online child abusers will be sentenced this afternoon. alexander mccartney used a fake identity on social media to persuade victims to send him

images, and then used these to blackmail them into sending more graphic material. police believe thousands of children were targeted, with many victims never identified. before sentencing today, mccartney, who is 26 and from county armagh in northern ireland, pleaded guilty to 185 charges. those charges involved 70 victims aged between 10 and 16, in new zealand and the us. let's speak to our ireland correspondent richard morgan — who is outside the court in belfast. bring us the latest. the judge bring us the latest. the “udge here is expected * bring us the latest. the 'udge here is expected to h bring us the latest. the judge here is expected to begin - bring us the latest. thejudgei here is expected to begin that sentencing process in the next few minutes we understand that could take well over one hour, given the gravity of the case.

given the sheer number of charges mccartney has admitted to. 185 in total including one charge of manslaughter. mccartney brought fear and devastation into the homes of thousands of young children right around the world using online messaging platforms such as snapchat and instagram. as you said, he would pose as a young girl with body image issues and gained the trust of those he targeted and get them to send explicit photos and then turn on them, blackmail them happen —— have them engage in acts of humiliation and depravity and in some cases mccartney had his young victims of abuse other young children for his own sexual gratification. that manslaughter charge is significant in this case, it was brought by prosecutors after they were able to prove a 12—year—old, thomas from west virginia in the usa took her own life after mccartney

targeted her. the emergency services were called to her family home just minutes after her last interaction with mccartney will stop she had shot herself with her family's legally owned firearm and tragically her own father took his own life 18 months later as result of the guilt, the family knew it for —— never knew why and never knew it was because of the actions of mccartney. the court has previously heard he has been utterly remorseless, that he was offending around the clock and after an almost five year process he will find out how long he will spend in prison this afternoon. we long he will spend in prison this afternoon.— long he will spend in prison this afternoon. we will be back with ou this afternoon. we will be back with you a _ this afternoon. we will be back with you a little _ this afternoon. we will be back with you a little later, - this afternoon. we will be back with you a little later, thank. with you a little later, thank you so much for that. let's speak tojim gamble, the former head of the child exploitation and online protection centre. this is such a shocking case, is it not? it this is such a shocking case, is it not?— is it not? it is and it brings together— is it not? it is and it brings together a _ is it not? it is and it brings together a lot _ is it not? it is and it brings together a lot of _ is it not? it is and it brings

together a lot of offending i together a lot of offending patterns he will see over a range of cases, but the sheer scale of it and to the horrific nature of the harm inflicted on these young girls just makes it one of the worst certainly i have ever seen.— one of the worst certainly i have ever seen. what is the significance _ have ever seen. what is the significance of _ have ever seen. what is the significance of this - have ever seen. what is the significance of this case - have ever seen. what is the significance of this case and what lessons can we draw from it and what messages can be sent out to potential victims and parents?— sent out to potential victims and parents? there are a lot of lessons to _ and parents? there are a lot of lessons to be _ and parents? there are a lot of lessons to be drawn _ and parents? there are a lot of lessons to be drawn and - and parents? there are a lot of lessons to be drawn and the i lessons to be drawn and the first one is that this is not unique. do not sit and watch this and think about was terrible, but it happens very rarely. you only have to go back a few years to other offenders, matthew folder and go back to ten years and look at timothy cox and evil like that, there are offenders like that, there are offenders like that who will always be there, using this environment to target your children. ultimately, parents need to educate and empower themselves and develop an understanding of what is happening online, they need to be able to talk about the children at the right time and place about the right thing

and place about the right thing and they also need to understand what are the red flags and what to look for in a case where someone who is sexually exploiting your child is using the catfishing technique, pretending to be someone other than who they are. b, someone other than who they are. ~ ., someone other than who they are. �* ., ., someone other than who they are.�* ., ., , someone other than who they are. ., ., , are. a lot of people watching this will be — are. a lot of people watching this will be horrified - are. a lot of people watching this will be horrified and - this will be horrified and bewildered that some of the children involved were so young and it is very difficult for parents to know exactly, you say to be aware, but very difficult for them to always be aware in these cases. it difficult for them to always be aware in these cases.- aware in these cases. it is, but at the _ aware in these cases. it is, but at the end _ aware in these cases. it is, but at the end of— aware in these cases. it is, but at the end of the - aware in these cases. it is, but at the end of the day l aware in these cases. it is, i but at the end of the day the responsibility for keeping your child safe begins with parents. you will ensure it that they know how to cross the road and insured they not to swing before you allow them into the deep end and at the world in the time parents need to take the time parents need to take the time parents need to take the time to educate and empower themselves and i understand as a grandfather and a parent myself, you put these awful crimes into a corner of your mind and you put them into a box and don't want to think

about them. you minimise and normalise them because you only think of the online element, it was not real, but it was real. he was coursing children to engage and depraved sexual activity for fear of him out in photographs that was already shared with him. he was making children right on their own bodies, in essence commit sexual acts against others who were younger and even more vulnerable than them and people need to cure that. i'm really moderating my language because if i went into the reality of what was happening, some people would never be able to look at their child in the same way again without being horrified. that is the problem. parents are horrified when they hear this, day one. they too, they will be terrified for a moment that it could be there child and date three or four they have gone back to their busy lives in the safe space where they think it will never be me. the fact of the matter is, as a parent, use this case, not the

ultimate horror of it. if your target your child essay, do you know what catfishing is? that allows the parent to understand their understanding of it and ask if they've been involved in it or if it's happen to anyone and they have been involved with it and use that carefully orchestrated conversation to begin to understand what your child does and how they would seek out help and reassure them that they can always come to you. but you need to have done your homework beforehand and needed to be able to say, look, i made mistakes and i was young and the more i've looked at this if it looks too good to be true, it probably is. isn't it coincidental that these ten —— people tend to have the exact same interests as you especially if those interests are obscure in the mirror at your own vulnerability so they immediately have these in common with you so if you have that situation, you want your child to google and reverse image search and take the image they are looking at at this person that they have curated

because they think it will attract a particular child and you want to search for it online. the chances are you will not find anything other than those few professionalized images, the ai images because they are not real people. so there will not be family photos, fun photos, photos were taken with a normal camera. that is a real red flag. once he gets it up when you really think about ensuring you're talking to the right trusted adults and ensuring you are engaging with the police and if any child has been engaged by one of these predators, don't underestimate the stigma and the horror that they feel. if there any victims of survivors watching this programme today, you are a victim of child or bruce, this is not yourfault, when the time is right for you to come forward —— child abuse, if you're a police officer or social worker anyone involved in safeguarding, make sure you are alike to the fact that victims and survivors we engage with them every day and don't

know that we do, they want to know that we do, they want to know us so think of what you say and how to say it's because you want to create a context where they can come forward and get the help that they would undoubtedly need because many carry this trauma and legacy of shame for years.— carry this trauma and legacy of shame for years. thank you very much, a retired _ shame for years. thank you very much, a retired police _ shame for years. thank you very much, a retired police officer- much, a retired police officer and former head of child exploitation online protection centre. we know alexander mccartney was involved in the severe sexual exploitation of young girls aged 10—16 on social media mostly snapchat. the bbc recieved this statement from snapchat. the social media company said... "the sexual exploitation of any person is horrific and illegal and our hearts go out to the victims in this case. if we discover this activity, or it is reported to us, we remove it, lock the violating account and report it to the authorities.

"we have extra protections for teens to make it difficult for them to be contacted by strangers and we have expanded in—app notifications to ensure teens are in touch with people they trust. "through our in—app family centre parents can also see who their teens are talking to, and who their friends are." that statement from snapchat. if you've been affected by any of the issues raised... you could speak to a health professional, or an organisation that offers support. if you're in the uk, you can find a list of organisations that can help at bbc.co.uk/actionline or go to befrienders.org if you live outside the uk.

on thursday, more than 500 people arrived in the uk by crossing the channel on a small boat. it's the highest number of crossings in a single day this year — and means more than 29,000 people have now made the journey in 202a. it's10% higher than the number of migrant crossings this time last year. a bbc investigation has uncovered evidence of how germany is being used to store the small boats before they are used. during a meeting that we covertly filmed, two smugglers reveal how dinghies are being stored in secret warehouses around the city of essen. our berlin correspondent, jessica parker, has more on this. essen, west germany, a place many migrants come to or pass through. it's here ourjournalist is posing as a syrian man who wants to get to britain on a small boat. wearing a secret camera, he meets this man, a boat

smuggler, who says his name is abu sahar. these are videos from abu sahar — motors, dinghies, for use in migrant crossings. this one, he's suggested, is being stored nearby, somewhere around essen, ready, for the right price. they end up at a cafe. it's becoming clear someone else is coming. months of groundwork have led up to this moment. our guy is just a couple of streets away, having a meeting with his contact. we've got a tracker on him. we're parked up here. we don't want to get too close — that could compromise things — but we've got to be close enough in case there's a problem and we have to get him out of there. they'rejoined by a man known as al hal — the uncle, a term of authority. due to strict german law, we can't record the sound of the meeting. so, right after, ourjournalist describes to me what happened.

they tell me the equipment comes from turkey. they have about ten warehouses around essen. police raided one a few days ago, but they separate their stock and give bait to police. as our investigation shows, smugglers are moving boats from turkey to west germany. britain's national crime agency has confirmed germany's a central location for storing dinghies later used in channel crossings because cities like essen are near, but not too near, the calais region's more closely watched beaches, while under german law helping to smuggle people out of the eu to a third country, like the uk, isn't technically illegal. back at the cafe, it's down to business. the smuggler says one option. "i can get you a boat. "you will pay me 15,000 euros. "you will get the boat with 60 life jackets "and all the equipment. "guaranteed delivery to the calais area."

this testimony is backed up by videos, messages and voice notes from the smugglers. in various exchanges, the main contact, abu sahar, even discusses the merits of certain engine models and known migrant crossing points. on the beaches of north—eastern france, dawn breaks. cooperation to crack down on gangs is good or being accelerated, according to the german and uk governments. but the remnants of failed even fatal crossing attempts litter these shores, while, as we've shown, smugglers continue to make big money from this misery. jessica parker, bbc news. let's speak to our berlin correspondent, jessica parker. an extraordinary investigation there. just give us some of the reaction that there has been to it today.

reaction that there has been to it toda . , ., ., reaction that there has been to it toda . , ., it today. yes, good afternoon to ou. it today. yes, good afternoon to you. downing _ it today. yes, good afternoon to you. downing street, - it today. yes, good afternoon to you. downing street, the l to you. downing street, the prime minister's official spokesman was asked about this earlier by the bbc and set it was vital that other countries as well as the uk step up enforcement when it comes to tackling these gangs and says our investigation highlights the exact sort of activity we want to work to address. and the german interior minister has set tackling th