Catfishing online predator: Child sexual extortion case shows importance of parents not judging - Netsafe

Alexander McCartney, a 21-year-old from Newry in Northern Ireland, allegedly urged children to send him naked pictures of themselves. Photo / Supplied

By Rachel Helyer Donaldson of RNZ

The case of a man in Northern Ireland - described as one of the world’s most prolific online child abusers - shows how crucial it is that tamariki and rangatahi know they have someone they can talk to without shame, New Zealand online safety organisations say.

Alexander McCartney is reported to have targeted as many as 3500 children, across 30 countries, including New Zealand and Australia.

He was also found guilty of manslaughter over the death of a 12-year-old United States girl, who killed herself after being targeted.

The father of a New Zealand victim was quoted in a police statement saying he could “never forgive [or] forget the horrific things this predator has done”.

Netsafe’s chief online safety officer, Sean Lyons, said young people in such cases often tried to deal with it alone, but parents should make it clear they would not judge.

“It’s good to make a plan as a family, tell them ‘I don’t care how you got here ... if you’re in trouble this is what we do as a family, this is how we’ll handle it, you can come to us, you can talk to us, if it’s too embarrassing to talk to us directly here’s the person in the family, or the family friend that you can go to.’”

ECPAT (End Child Prostitution, Pornography and Trafficking) New Zealand director Eleanor Parkes said the sheer number of McCartney’s victims was “really scary”, but that his approach - such as using templates to be able to reply to his victims at speed - was increasingly common.

“You get the sense that, for a lot of them, this isn’t something they’ve only done once, it might not be something they’re new to.

“They know exactly what to say, how to get those young children completely panicked that their reputation is ruined and their life is over, with these photos out in the public domain with their friends and family seeing them.”

Parkes said it was unlikely that young people would ever stop sending nude photos.

“It’s just what they use the internet for ... so it’s really about people knowing how to respond to [blackmailing] and making sure they can go to parents, get that support, go to the police, come to an organisation like ECPAT or Netsafe, who can support them through the next steps.”

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