years, alexander mccartney admitted a 185 crimes involving 70 child victims. he has caused immeasurable damage to children and their families. a bbc investigation uncovers news evidence how 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. and we go behind the scences with rock star bruce springsteen — as he releases a documentary capturing his electrifying tour. one of the world's most prolific online child abusers has been sentenced

to life in prison. alexander mccartney faked his identity to sexually abuse and blackmail thousands of children online. the judge at belfast crown court described mccartney's crimes as acts of "sadism", which "scarred" the childhoods of his victims. 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 united states. before we go any futher, i need to warn you that many of the details we'll be hearing about this case are really distressing. catherine kierans, chief prosecutor at psni spoke at a press conference earlier.

we believe this to be the first time in abuser has been held accountable for manslaughter where the victim and perpetrator have never met in person. the prosecution team was also able to apply the offence of blackmail which normally concerns physical property to the digital images mccartney was demanding. we have since been able to prosecute suspects for blackmail and other cases of catfishing. we will use the full extent of the law to hold abusers responsible for actions. and a statement was read out on behalf of the grandparents of cimarron thomas. grandparents of cimarron thomas-_ grandparents of cimarron thoma— thomas. we've all been devastated _ thomas. we've all been devastated by _ thomas. we've all been devastated by our - devastated by our granddaughter's passing, we know— granddaughter's passing, we know nothing we can do or say will bring _ know nothing we can do or say will bring her back, but if you can help _ will bring her back, but if you can help another family to not have _ can help another family to not have to — can help another family to not have to go through what we did, then_ have to go through what we did, then something good could come out of— then something good could come out of her— then something good could come out of her death. perhaps

parents. _ out of her death. perhaps parents, please, keep the doors of communication open concerning the evil of some people _ concerning the evil of some people online.— people online. alexander mccartney _ people online. alexander mccartney was _ people online. alexander| mccartney was sentenced people online. alexander i mccartney was sentenced to people online. alexander - mccartney was sentenced to life in prison with a minimum term of 20 years after admitting to the manslaughter of 12—year—old cimarron thomas. we heard that statement on behalf of her family. let's speak to our ireland correspondent richard morgan — who is outside the court in belfast. i will say once again, the details of this case are incredibly upsetting and distressing.— incredibly upsetting and distressina. , distressing. absolutely. some ofthe distressing. absolutely. some of the detail, _ distressing. absolutely. some of the detail, much _ distressing. absolutely. some of the detail, much of- of the detail, much of the detail in fact we are unable to broadcast, the horror of what mccartney inflicted upon so many young girls right around the world. prosecutors here say they have never come across a case like this. the police service have said that

mccartney is a disgusting child predator who deserves to be behind bars. for many, many years alexander mccartney a student would sit in his bedroom at home using the internet to groom and abuse young girls from the age of ten up young girls from the age of ten up to the age of 16. he would take on the identity of a young girl with body image issues and would then convince those victims to send him compromising photos. that is when he would turn on them with attempted messages to say that he would blackmail them and that they must comply with everything keep requests. in some cases he would return to other victims on numerous occasions and for his own sexual gratification he would have some of those young girls, those children, abuse of other

young children. mccartney's offending, it has been described as prolific, around—the—clock, it spanned dozens of countries around the world and although the charges put to him were to do with 70 victims, the police service in northern ireland say they estimate there could be three and half thousand victims right around the world. many of those young girls had never spoken of their ordeals until the police in their respective countries knocked on the door. the alert was raised when a girl in scotland, a teenager in scotland, a teenager in scotland contact police theory to say she was being blackmailed online using social media at snapchat, that led police to detectives in northern ireland then after a search of mccartney's home found dozens of devices containing thousands of pictures of young girls in various states of dress and

undress performing acts of humiliation and depravity, as i say, for his own gratification. when mccartney was sentenced here earlier today by mr justice 0'hara he showed no emotion and the route the previous hearings he had sat in the dock and looked at the floor sometimes with his hands covering his ears, but the judge said the risk of him reoffending is too high. he has shown no remorse, he is utterly devoid of normal human empathy is what mrjustice 0'hara said to mccartney before he was led away to start that prison term. he has been sentenced to 20 years in prison and has already served five of those years while on remand, but it will be 2039 before he can be considered for release with the litany of crimes he committed over a number of years affecting so many young children and their families right around the world. yes indeed. right around the world. yes indeed- a _ right around the world. yes indeed. a very _ right around the world. yes indeed. a very difficult case, richard morgan at the court

there in belfast. i will keep reminding viewers that these are very difficult details there, detailso are very difficult details there, detail so difficult and upsetting that we will not be going into them because they are just a very, very upsetting. when we heard justice 0'hara talking about them he described the crimes as sadism and depravity and scarring and robbing the children of their childhoods. police believe he targeted around three and half thousand children across 30 countries. as we look back at this very typical case i willjust remind you that... bbc�*s cormac campbell has more on the story — and a warning that you may find it very upsetting. cimarron thomas was a 12—year—old schoolgirl from west virginia. in 2018, alexander mccartney used a fake persona to befriend her online. he convinced her to share compromising photographs, and then he turned on her, telling her that unless she did exactly as he said, the images would be posted.

four days later, mccartney returned using another fake persona. he demanded she engage in acts of degradation and depravity. she said she would shoot herself. he told her she had 30 seconds to decide. she was found three minutes later by her younger sister, who thought she'd heard a balloon pop. 911, what's the address of your emergency? what happened? what's your address? are you next to her? 18 months later, simran�*s father, ben, took his own life 18 months later, cimarron�*s father, ben, took his own life without knowing what had led to his daughter's death. in an upcoming bbc documentary, cimarron�*s grandparents spoke of their loss. cimarron would have been 13 injuly and so she has bright red lipstick on getting into that stage of her life to be a teenager, she almost was.

why? why was the biggest question. why? as well as manslaughter, mccartney has pleaded guilty to charges including 59 counts of blackmail and 70 counts of inciting children to engage in sexual activity. but prosecutors believe that from his rural home outside newry, he put around 3,500 children in 30 countries through depraved, humiliating and dangerous ordeals. this included forcing children to abuse other children. we were able to prove that this child took her own life during the abuse, when she was still online with mccartney. so you had little girls, sort of an average age of 10 to 12 years old, many times being threatened in the most depraved way to do these things to themselves and provide mccartney with the images.

a lot of the time this was happening through the night america, new zealand, the united kingdom and europe. his offending was round the clock, you know, and it was difficult to know when he actually did anything else. mccartney was very assiduous about saving the images, and he would also save the map on snapchat of where the child was. in some cases, some of the children had raised the alarm and which helped police to actually identify him in the first place. but some of the children, until police knocked the door, they had never told anyone what they'd been through. for mccartney's victims, recovery is a daily battle. the court heard how many now suffer from flashbacks, suicidal thoughts, self—harm and trust issues. these are the words of a father of victims from new zealand. they have been spoken by an actor. it all happened for my daughter within minutes, you know.

as soon as that first photo was sent, a sequence of events was in motion that, you know, could never be undone. and he'd obviously honed his craft over, you know, a significant period of time. and as soon as he had that power, she was playing by his rules. it's something she's going to deal with forever. we know she's on this medication all the time, and the darkest places that i'm sure her mind goes from time to time when she's alone. alexander mccartney's offending is over. its impact will last a lifetime. 0nce once again 0nce againi once again i will remind viewers that the details are very, very difficult and upsetting and if you have been affected you can get help online. we will just talk to we willjust talk to our correspondent angus crawford to join those of us —— joins us and you've been reporting on online harms of children's rights for over a decade, talk us through the kinds of issues

that this case raises.- that this case raises. utterly horrific case _ that this case raises. utterly horrific case but _ that this case raises. utterly horrific case but it _ that this case raises. utterly horrific case but it raises - that this case raises. utterly| horrific case but it raises two really important issues. first, mccartney's offences took place between 2013—2019, these were the early days, the wild west of social media, there are almost no guard rails, social media was wide open and mccartney ruthlessly exploited these loopholes around snapchat and instagram and targeted accounts public by default and thatis accounts public by default and that is exactly what he did, digital landscape has not changed, there are still real problems with grooming and sexual exploitation which still affect instagram and snapchat, but it's a safer place today thanit but it's a safer place today than it was six or seven years ago. it's worth saying today is the one—year anniversary of the passing of the online safety act. the second point which i think is really most important is that possibly this awful case gives us an opportunity to talk about the problems of online grooming. for parents, guardians, carers to talk to

young people and for young people to take one really important message which is if they are being bullied, threatened online like this, blackmailed, it is not their fault, they are victims of a crime and that they can and must speak up. nothing is so embarrassing it's worth ending your life over.— your life over. absolutely critical to _ your life over. absolutely critical to remember - your life over. absolutely critical to remember the | critical to remember the victims at the very heart of this. victims at the very heart of this, ,, ., ,. ., ., victims at the very heart of this. ,, ., ,. ., ., ,, ., this. snapchat have issued a statement. _ this. snapchat have issued a statement. they _ this. snapchat have issued a statement. they have - this. snapchat have issued a statement. they have set i this. snapchat have issued a| statement. they have set the sexual exploitation of any portion is horrific and our hearts go out to the victims in this case and they say if we discover this activity or it is reported to us we remove it, locked the violating account and reported to the authorities and reported to the authorities and they continue, we have extra protections for teens to make it difficult for them to be contacted by strangers and we have expanded inapt notifications to ensure teams are in touch with people they trust the. they say the rule are in out family centre, parents can see who the are talking to and who their

friends are.— talking to and who their friends are. thank you for bringing _ friends are. thank you for bringing us _ friends are. thank you for bringing us all— friends are. thank you for bringing us all of- friends are. thank you for bringing us all of that, . friends are. thank you for . bringing us all of that, angus crawford has spent over a decade they're working when it comes to online harms in children's rights working for a decade with that difficult work. again the details of this case are upsetting. if you happen affected, you can find guidance on where to get support and where to get help. detail so upsetting that the judge actually said that the full details of mccartney's crimes were not going to be read out in court today. because they are just so difficult. jim arejust so difficult. jim gamble the former head of the online children protections centre joins us, let's focus in on the kind of work that police had to do to get to where we are today. do to get to where we are toda . ., ~' , do to get to where we are toda . ., ~ , . ., , today. the work is meticulous. these things — today. the work is meticulous. these things can _ today. the work is meticulous. these things can begin - today. the work is meticulous. these things can begin from i today. the work is meticulous. | these things can begin from the smallest clue. 0ne these things can begin from the smallest clue. one child coming forward or counterparts in

international law enforcement finding that one threat that indicates that an individual within your territory of responsibility has been identified by virtue of their ip downloading images. then it begins a process of work that is a painstaking and difficult. the officers, when they eventually capture the image is a predator has harvested, someone who is valid at the images to use them as a commodity or to satisfy themselves, they must be reviewed and examined. the transfer of trauma to normal detectives, to those people even with special skills in this area, is something you cannot minimise. listening to the lead sio in this case talk about what they had done, i can only imagine the impact it has had on his team. they are too few police officers with far too much work in this area. i heard angus crawford things

heard angus craw