he has caused immeasurable damage to children and their families. , ., ., families. outside of federal court case _ families. outside of federal court case in _ families. outside of federal court case in new— families. outside of federal court case in new york, - families. outside of federali court case in new york, the families. outside of federal - court case in new york, the ceo is due to appear in earlier this week he was arrested on sex trafficking charges and is due to enter his plea. i sex trafficking charges and is due to enter his plea.- due to enter his plea. i can aet due to enter his plea. i can get you _ due to enter his plea. i can get you a _ due to enter his plea. i can get you a boat _ due to enter his plea. i can get you a boat and - due to enter his plea. i can get you a boat and you - due to enter his plea. i can one of his victims12—year—old get you a boat and you willi due to enter his plea. i can - get you a boat and you will pay me 15,000 euros, you'll get the cimarrom thomas fron will pay get you a boat and you will pay me 15,000 euros, you'll get the boat with 60 life jackets and boat with 60 life jackets and all of the equipment and all of the equipment and guaranteed delivery. guaranteed delivery. cimarrom thomas from a man who targeted thousands a man who targeted thousands of children across 30 countries in what was described as "industrial scale" online abuse is sentenced to life of children across 30 countries in prison the judge said alexander mccartney alexander mccartney was remorseless in carrying was remorseless in carrying out crimes of "sadism out crimes of "sadism and depravity." and depravity."

one of his victims12—year—old one of his victims12—year—old cimarrom thomas from west virginia took her life after being abused by mccartney, we'll speak to a child protection expert. also coming up: the former chief executive of the american clothing retailer, abercrombie & fitch, is about to appear in court on sex trafficking charges, following a bbc investigation. the bbc uncovers evidence of how people traffickers store dinghies in germany for migrants to cross the english channel and we'll have the latest on the race for the white house with ten days to go until election day. one of the world's most prolific online abusers, who drove one of his young victims to take her own life, has been jailed for life at belfast crown court. alexander mccartney admitted 185 charges involving 70 children although the court was told the true number of victims could be as high as three and a half thousand. mccartney, who's 26, posed as a young girl, in order to befriend girls in 30 countries on the instant

messaging service snapchat before going on to blackmail them. the judge said mccartney's crimes had scarred his victims' childhoods and that the details of his offending put the case on a par with murder. chris page reports. cimarron thomas lived thousands of miles away from the abuser who caused her death. why?

victims, telling them he would post the photos publicly unless they carried out acts of abuse for his sexual gratification. three minutes after mccartney's last message to cimarron, the emergency services received this call. 18 months later, cimarron�*s 18 months later, cimarron�*s father ben took his own life father ben took his own life without knowing what had led without knowing what had led to his daughter's suicide. to his daughter's suicide. police and prosecutors on both police and prosecutors on both sides of the atlantic worked to sides of the atlantic worked to bring the manslaughter charge. bring the manslaughter charge. mccartney targeted mccartney targeted victims across the world victims across the world over five years. over five years. he ordered some girls to film themselves he ordered some girls to film themselves abusing other children. abusing other children. you had little girls, you had little girls, sort of an average age of 10—12 sort of an average age of 10—12 years old many times, years old many times, being threatened in being threatened in

the most depraved way. the most depraved way. when he got that first photograph from them, he actually had a preprepared threat saved in his phone, which he would cut and paste into the chat. his offending was round—the—clock, you know, and it was difficult to know when he actually did anything else. a number of victims were in new zealand.

been an investigation like it. his offending was on an industrial scale. mccartney's actions have directly caused the death of a child. he may as well have pulled the trigger himself. mccartney must serve at least 20 years before he can apply for early release. the online killer is one of the most prolific child abusers ever to be convicted. chris page, bbc news, belfast. let's speak to fareedah shaheed, internet safety expert with a focus on helping parents to protect their children online. she joins us from dallas. thank you for your time today and i know you have been following this horrific case. words cannot capture how horrific it is the impact it has had on so many children, including children and the

united states. your understanding of this is really personal because as a teenager, you yourself were contacted by a predator online pretending to be someone else. tell us what happened to you. i be someone else. tell us what happened to you.— be someone else. tell us what happened to you. i thought she was my age _ happened to you. i thought she was my age when _ happened to you. i thought she was my age when i _ happened to you. i thought she was my age when i first - happened to you. i thought she was my age when i first started j was my age when i first started talking to him. i thought he was my friend and he made himself familiar to me and i felt like i can tell him anything and everything. that led me down a path that is my work today. fist led me down a path that is my work today-— work today. at one point you contemplated _ work today. at one point you contemplated running - work today. at one point you contemplated running away. work today. at one point you - contemplated running away from home, didn't you? what did you think at that point it would stop you from doing that? i felt like my safe space was with this predator, he understood me and was nonjudgmental and did not make me feel bad for loving animation, cosplay and gaming, i thought i had a safe space with them as opposed to having a safe space of my parents and so, i decided to meet him at a park next to my friend's house and i was packing my bags out

going to leave home and told my mum, hey, going to meet some of that he met online and always said that because i wanted her to know i was i wasn't asking for permission and that conversation that she had with me instead of yelling and screaming, she had every right to do, she talked to me as an experienced friend and maybe realise that she was my safe space and not a predator. but i didn't know that was a predator at the moment.— at the moment. described as a conversation _ at the moment. described as a conversation that _ at the moment. described as a conversation that actually - conversation that actually changed your life that day and let you to do the things that you do now. tell us more about that. ~ , you do now. tell us more about that. g ., ., ~' that. my mother for like this was going — that. my mother for like this was going to _ that. my mother for like this was going to be _ that. my mother for like this was going to be the - that. my mother for like this was going to be the last - that. my mother for like this - was going to be the last moment she would speak with me —— felt like this. she asked me about who this person was, how did you meet him, what did you talk about? she wasn't asking that you get more information on him and take away my technology, as and take away my technology, as a lecture is genuinely interested in my conversations

and she wanted to know more. that conversation help me open up that conversation help me open up two or more and talk to her and i didn't feel like she was going tojudge me for my activities. a lot of kids cover the conversations they have because a lot of conversations they have with their kids, same with me is do not talk to strangers online and do not send pictures don't do this and don't do that. you are afraid as a child that if i do that, my parent is going to be disappointed in me and take away my devices and because i did not feel that my conversation, i was able to open up to my mum and tell everyone was talking to effort safe with her more than did with someone online. you've taken all _ with someone online. you've taken all these _ with someone online. you've taken all these messages - with someone online. you've| taken all these messages and you educate parents and how to help the children navigate the online roads safely. to all of the young children who have been affected by this case and any child going to something like this now or who might

encounter someone like this online in the future, what is your message to them? it is your message to them? it is normal to — your message to them? it is normal to develop _ your message to them? it 3 normal to develop friendships, it is normal to have feelings for other people will stop it is normal to grow up and of any sort of feeling that you have toward somebody else. it is ok of an incident happens and makes you feel uncomfortable, dead people around you that love you and you can speak to them, you can forgive yourself, forgive the situation that you are put in and it is not your fault, number one and speak to someone who loves you a lot and let them know that you're coming to them and you know this is a very difficult situation and you want them to accept you and be nonjudgmental and that way, you have a safe space in your household. thank ou ve space in your household. thank you very much _ space in your household. thank you very much for _ space in your household. thank you very much forjoining - space in your household. thank you very much forjoining us - space in your household. thank you very much forjoining us on| you very much forjoining us on the context. 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. the former chief executive of the american clothing retailer, abercrombie & fitch, is about to appear in court in new york on sex trafficking charges. mikejefferies, his partner, and a third man are accused of tempting vulnerable men to attend sex parties with the promise of a career in the fashion and modelling industry. the fbi launched an investigation into the 80—year—old former fashion boss after a 4 year bbc investigation reported on the allegations last year. lawyers for mrjefferies and his partner have denied the charges. 0ur investigations correspondent rianna croxford who has been working on this story for 3 years sent this report. i'm outside a federal court in new york, where mikejeffries, the former ceo of abercrombie & fitch, is due to appear. earlier this week, he was arrested on sex trafficking charges and is due to enter his plea. now, this all comes off

the back of a bbc investigation which revealed allegations that he and his british partner, matthew smith, sexually exploited young men at events they hosted around the world. these took place in major cities, including here in new york, in london and in marrakesh, from at least 2008 until 2015. we also found that he and his partner were at the centre of a highly organised operation, one that involved a middleman, and that middleman, james jacobson, is also due to appear in court today. his lawyers have declined to comment other than to say he intends to plead not guilty. and in another bbc investigation evidence of how gangs in germany store small boats used by migrants to cross the english channel has been discovered. during a covertly filmed meeting, two smugglers reveal how dinghies are kept in secret warehouses around the city of essen. 0ur berlin correspondent, jessica parker, reports.

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. 0ur 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 into germany, now 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, though raids have happened using european arrest warrants. 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. 0n the beaches of north—eastern france, dawn breaks. responding to our report, downing street said enforcement must be stepped up. the german government said close cooperation will continue, but the remnants of failed, even fatal crossing attempts still litter these shores as smugglers make big money from this misery. jessica parker, bbc news.

around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news.

the us secretary of state antony blinken has been holding talks in london with arab leaders in a fresh attempt to find a way to end the fighting in the middle east. in qatar this weekend, mediators will reconvene for the first time in weeks, trying to revive lapsed negotiations on a ceasefire in gaza. mr blinken has spoken to the lebanese prime minister, najib mikati, and is also talking to the foreign ministers from jordan and the united arab emirates. the secretary of state promised to work with real urgency for diplomatic solutions. our state department correspondent, tom bateman, has this update. what they been struck what they have been trying to do his work

on the day after plan, a post—conflict plan for gaza, how to secure it and crucially, whatever process which of these negotiations will work out what happens next in the demand and the withdrawal of israeli troops from gaza and a full end to the war and what americans are trying to do after the death of sinwar to set that process to the side and work on the postwar plan and i think they believe they are getting some traction on that from the israelis but they want to get

arab countries that would be crucial to being involved in this and this being speculated, providing security forces in support and money to rebuild gaza. getting that done, presenting and saying this is the plan for the future of gaza without hamas and also crucially without the israelis. getting an israeli withdrawal and that would then be presented as, something that would take place in exchange for the release of hostages. former president of the foundation for middle east peace, is also the former policy adviser to bernie sanders. thank you for being on the programme and based on your experience and contacts, didn't as a cause to believe this is the latest effort that might bear some fruit?

the iatest effort that might bear some fruit?— the latest effort that might bear some fruit? they don't, i wish i could _ bear some fruit? they don't, i wish i could say _ bear some fruit? they don't, i wish i could say differently - wish i could say differently but this is just a replay of what we have seen for over a year and that is the united states is unwilling to put any real pressure on the government of israel and benjamin and yahooin of israel and benjamin and yahoo in particular to end this war some months ago, president biden has laid out his own cease—fire plans at the time and the missing piece in that plan was in any cost whatsoever on benjamin netanyahu that he did not accept and we have seen time and time again that benjamin netanyahu's goal here is to sustain and prolong this war for is to sustain and prolong this warfor his is to sustain and prolong this war for his own domestic political purposes and into the united states is willing to change his political calculation, i do not think that will change. d0 calculation, i do not think that will change.- calculation, i do not think that will change. do you think the israeli _ that will change. do you think the israeli government - that will change. do you think the israeli government is - the israeli government is waiting to find out the result of the us presidential election before deciding on any next moves? it before deciding on any next moves? , , ~ , .,

moves? it seems likely to me that that is — moves? it seems likely to me that that is what _ moves? it seems likely to me that that is what is _ moves? it seems likely to me that that is what is happening j that that is what is happening and it's very clear that benjamin netanyahu would prefer donald trump restoration in the white house and understands that he will have a far better situation, even the small amount of pressure and criticism he has faced from the united states under the biden administration will evaporate under donald trump. so, clearly, the main focus is been his own political fortunes that i think he also understands that by sustaining this war, he is hurting the democrats. the think it was — is hurting the democrats. the think it was a _ is hurting the democrats. the think it was a misstep by the biden administration to put a 30 day deadline which takes us past the election day on the israeli government to improve the flow of humanitarian aid into gaza? i the flow of humanitarian aid into gaza?— into gaza? i think those are completely _ into gaza? i think those are completely ridiculous - completely ridiculous proposition and we did not need 30 days to see what is happening before our eyes and everyone knows and the biden administration knows