Justice Minister has commented following the
conclusion of the Alexander McCartney case.
The Minister said: “I want to welcome the outcome in this utterly
devastating case. The level of depravity, deviousness and utter
disregard Alexander McCartney demonstrated for his young victims
was horrifying; and those victims, not all of whom will ever
be able to be identified, deserved justice to be done.
“I want to pay tribute to the investigating officers and PPS for
pursuing this as vigorously and thoroughly as they did and for
ensuring that McCartney was held accountable for the death
of one of his young victims. Those officers and prosecutors have
been exposed to things in this case that no person should ever
have to see and I want to pay tribute to their fortitude and
courage.
“McCartney committed his vile crimes behind a cloak of online
anonymity, but through a comprehensive and robust operation
across the criminal justice system he has been exposed as the
vile and prolific child sexual predator that he truly is.
“Such partnership working, including across jurisdictions, has
been key to a case that again highlights the need for
further strengthening of legislation around online spaces to
protect children from serious harm and identify other online
abusers.
“There is a comprehensive and robust framework of law on sexual
offences in place in Northern Ireland which includes a range of
offences aimed at protecting children.
While telecommunications is a reserved matter, we are
engaging fully with the Department for Science, Innovation
and Technology and Ofcom on the implementation and regulation of
the Online Safety Act 2023 to make the online world safer for
children and ensure tech firms take more responsibility to manage
their platform's content and protect children from illegal harm.
“I hope that today's sentencing will also serve as a deterrent
and a reminder to other predators that online abuse is not beyond
the reach of the law.
“However, above all else, today my thoughts are with the family
and friends of Cimarron Thomas. She, and McCartney's other
victims, deserved never to be exposed to his depravity, cruelty
and abuse. Nothing can heal the wounds he has inflicted on his
victims and their families, but I hope that seeing him held to
account for his actions brings some small comfort to them."
