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A man who abused up to 3,500 girls online has been convicted of offenses including manslaughter

LONDON (AP) — A “relentless and cruel” online predator who extorted girls around the world was sentenced Friday to at least 20 years in prison after being convicted of manslaughter of a victim who took her own life .

Prosecutors say 26-year-old Alexander McCartney, from Newry, Northern Ireland, posed as a young girl and carried out catfishing attacks on 3,500 female victims he contacted through platforms such as Snapchat.

Catfishing uses a fake online identity to deceive victims. Authorities said McCartney encouraged his victims to send intimate photos or engage in sexual acts, then blackmailed them by threatening to share the images.

A 12-year-old in West Virginia killed herself in May 2018 during an online chat with McCartney when he asked for sexual acts. The victim's father died by suicide 18 months later.

Prosecutors said they believe this is the first time someone has been convicted of manslaughter in a case where the victim and perpetrator never met.

“Working closely with the police, the Crown Prosecution Service was able to establish under criminal law standards that McCartney's actions had led to the girl's death and he was facing manslaughter charges,” said Catherine Kieran, acting head of the Northern Ireland Prosecution Service's Serious Crime Unit.

Police have identified victims in 30 countries, including Australia, New Zealand and the United States.

McCartney, who committed his crimes from the bedroom of his parents' home, pleaded guilty to 185 charges involving 70 children, including a charge of manslaughter. At Belfast Crown Court, Judge John O'Hara sentenced him to life in prison with no chance of parole for 20 years.

“To my knowledge, there has been no case like this one in which a defendant has used social media on an industrial scale to cause such terrible and catastrophic harm,” the judge said.

Detective Chief Superintendent Eamonn Corrigan of the Police Service of Northern Ireland told the court that McCartney was a “relentless and cruel” pedophile.

“We cannot underestimate the devastation he caused and the childhood he stole,” the official said. “There was nothing that could stop him except put him in prison.”