One of the worst stories of the year, and the monster gets only 20 years.
Northern Ireland man sentenced for West Virginia girl's suicide, other offenses
Oct. 26 (UPI) -- Alexander McCartney is sentenced to life in prison for the manslaughter death of a West Virginia girl he "catfished" on a mobile messaging app and other offenses, including blackmail.
McCartney, 26, of County Armagh in Northern Ireland, pleaded guilty Friday to 185 charges related to years of catfishing young girls online and via messaging apps, including 58 attempts to blackmail his victims.
McCartney created fake profiles that indicated he was a young girl and used social media to target up to 3,500 victims in more than 30 countries who were between ages 10 and 16.
He entered a guilty plea to a manslaughter charge arising from the death of a 12-year-old West Virginia girl who committed suicide in 2018 when targeted by McCartney.
Belfast Crown Court Justice John O'Hara on Friday sentenced McCartney to life in prison with no possibility of parole for at least 20 years.
McCartney "used social media on an industrial scale to inflict such terrible and catastrophic damage on young girls," O'Hara said while sentencing McCartney on Friday.
Among his victims was the West Virginia girl, whom McCartney targeted on Snapchat and who committed suicide in May 2018.
The girl's father, Ben Thomas, was a U.S. Army veteran and committed suicide 18 months after his daughter took her life.
McCartney also was convicted for multiple offenses in which he caused children to engage in sexual activities and sexual communication with a child.
He also pleaded guilty to 58 blackmail charges and possessing indecent images of children from 2013 through 2019.
O'Hara called McCartney's offenses "sexploitation" that involved "sadism and depravity," which necessitated the life sentence that typically is only given upon murder convictions.
The judge also said McCartney continued to commit offenses while he was awaiting trial and free on bail.
Why was he ever free on bail? What madness allowed that to happen?
Police first searched McCartney's home in January 2016 and was arrested in July 2019, but he continued his activities, which "got worse and worse," O'Hara said.
"I find it hard to think of a sexual deviant who poses more risk than this defendant," O'Hara said.
And yet, someone let him out on bail? Was it you Judge O'Hara?
McCartney claimed he was subjected to online abuse while a teenager, but O'Hara dismissed the claim while sentencing McCartney.
Police said McCartney primarily used Snapchat, Instagram and Kik to create fake online profiles to catfish his victims and trick them into sending him sexual images of themselves.
After receiving the images, McCartney revealed his real identity and threatened to send images to his victims' friends and family.
He also made some of his victims involve their younger siblings or pets and often targeted young girls who were gay or who questioned their sexuality.
He told one victim he had her address and would send people to rape her if she didn't do as he said.
B.C. Uber passenger says driver touched,
exposed himself to her
Investigations are now underway into a disturbing encounter a 19-year-old Langley woman says she had with an Uber driver.
Caitlin, whom Global News is only identifying by her last name, said she was travelling in an Uber with her mom and her mother’s friend to an event in Langley, and Caitlin sat in the front seat.
I think you screwed up on the name, Global News!
“I noticed my daughter was quiet. Normally she’ll butt in the conversations but she wasn’t doing that,” Caitlin’s mother Tylyn Fasciglione said.
After the 10-minute ride was over, Caitlin told her mom what the driver was allegedly doing.
“He showed himself… his private parts… and he started to masturbate,” Fasciglione said Caitlin told her.
She also told her mother that the driver tried reaching for her.
“When he was trying to touch my leg and putting his hand closer to me I started moving away so I was closer to the door and further away from him,” Caitlin said.
Fasciglione said she did file a report about the driver through the Uber app and called Langley RCMP who confirmed that officers are now investigating.
No one has been arrested in the case.
“What if there’s other vulnerable women out there?” Fasciglione said. “Children are now able to take Ubers.”
In a statement to Global News, Uber says, “The reported behaviour is deeply concerned and has no place on the Uber platform.
“We have been in touch with the rider and removed the driver’s access to the app while we continue to investigate.”
Fasciglione said it was 24 hours before Uber contacted her.
“I think Uber should be more accountable to the community, to women, so we know this is gonna be safe for us,” she said.
“Right now it’s not. Twenty-four hours (before) contact (from) Uber, that’s not right.”
Caitlin said her message to rideshare users is to have their phone ready to call for help and to always sit in the backseat.
Uber should be required to bond their drivers, then they might be a little more discerning.
Ontario mom killed in front her kids at Ottawa park deemed femicide by police
On Thursday at around 11:25 a.m., police responded to reports a woman had been stabbed at a park near Uplands and Paul Anka drives in Ottawa.
Deputy Chief Trish Ferguson told reporters Friday 36-year-old Brkti Berhe, a mother of four, had been in the park with two of her children when the attack happened.
“Tragically, she succumbed to her injuries that morning in front of two of her children,” Ferguson said.
“Witnesses on scene quickly came to Brkti’s aid helping to protect the children and provide detailed description of the suspect who fled by car.”
A suspect was seen fleeing in a vehicle and was arrested on Highway 417 outside of Ottawa near Exit 66. Fsha Tekhle, 36, of Montreal, has been charged with first-degree murder.
Police allege Tekhle had a domestic relationship with a family member of the victim.
“This devastating event is a femicide. We take these matters very seriously and our hearts go out to the family at this time,” Ferguson said, adding Tekhle was likely heading back to Montreal at the time he was caught.
“Witnesses provided crucial information that led to the suspect’s arrest and also showed incredible compassion in trying to protect the young children at the scene.”
Tekhle was expected to appear in court on Friday.
Femicide is a term generally defined as the killing of a woman or girl based on their gender.
The European Institute of Gender Equality states femicide can take different forms, such as the murder of women because of intimate partner violence, the torture and misogynist slaying of women and the killing of women and girls in the name of “honour.”
This case makes the second time Ottawa police have used the term in a homicide investigation.
“It really is about stereotypical gender roles, decimation towards women, and these homicides are women who are killed by men because they are women,” Ferguson said.
“Traditionally we would all jump straight to the conclusion that they must be in an intimate relationship but that’s not always the case, and this is one of those matters where that’s the situation.”
— with files from Global News’ Sean Boynton
Three B.C. men charged in child sex cases
Jorge Alejandro Hernandez Jamie, 30, Richard Chun-Kwok Lam, 47, and Stephen Lim, 36, all face charges of communicating with a person under 18 for sexual services and agreeing via telecommunication on sex with a person they believed was under 18.
Court documents indicate an offence date of Nov. 24, 2023. The charges were sworn July 18.
Brittney MacBean, representing Lim’s defence team, told Judge John Milne that evidence disclosure has been arriving over the past two months.
Other teams also said they were receiving evidence and needed to review it and take instructions from their clients.
Glacier Media has reached out to the Vancouver Police department for investigation details.
Edmonton-area teacher who sexually abused
her student sentenced to four years in prison
Catherine Valiquette, 31, was sentenced to four years in prison Friday for sexually interfering with her then-student at an Edmonton-area high school
Article content
Warning: This story deals with child sexual abuse.
Dozens of people packed a Stony Plain courtroom to watch a former science teacher be sentenced for sexually abusing a teenage student.
The mother of four wept as she hugged friends and family before being taken into custody by sheriffs.
Valiquette pleaded guilty to a single count of sexual interference earlier this year. She admitted to repeatedly engaging in sex acts with the then-15-year-old victim, whose identity is covered by a publication ban.
The Crown asked for five years in prison while the defence sought a two-year conditional sentence to be served in the community, followed by probation.
Valiquette tearfully read a statement at the start of Friday’s Alberta Court of Justice hearing, apologizing to the victim and mourning the impact her sentence will have on her kids, including a newborn son.
“What I did goes against everything I stand for,” she said.
Evidence found at ‘church’
According to an agreed statement of facts, the victim added Valiquette as a friend on Snapchat in the spring of 2022. They began messaging regularly, and the conversations became lengthy and personal.
Eventually, they strayed into topics that were “increasingly sexual and inappropriate,” the agreed facts stated. They agreed to meet outside school, which led to kissing, touching, and eventually sex.
When the victim’s parents learned he had been in contact with Valiquette on Snapchat, they took his phone, though the two could still communicate via a shared Google document. They used a code, including “143” for the phrase “I love you” and “church” to refer to the place where they would park Valiquette’s car to have sex, according to the agreed statement of facts.
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