'Either comply with his demands or commit suicide': U.S. man sentenced for exploiting B.C. kids

A 37-year-old Oregon man has been sentenced to 20 years in federal prison for using social media to stalk three British Columbia children, eventually coercing them to produce and share sexually explicit images with him.

The United States District Attorney's Office in Oregon says Kevin Robert McCarty, of Happy Valley, Ore., used the online alias "Robbie MacKenzie" on Snapchat and Instagram to convince the children to create and send explicit pictures and videos of themselves.

Agents with the United States Department of Homeland Security began investigating McCarty in September 2021 and found his crimes dated back to July 2020.

"Once the children sent McCarty photos or videos, he demanded more," the attorney's office said in a statement.

"If the children refused, McCarty threatened to send the photos and videos he had already obtained to the minor victims' friends and families, which he did on several occasions. On at least two occasions, McCarty told his victims they could either comply with his demands or commit suicide."

The Comox Valley RCMP say they were alerted to a local youth being sexually exploited as early as May 2021, and as their investigation progressed, they received similar reports from Mounties in Surrey and the West Shore of Vancouver Island.

McCarty was charged on Nov. 16, 2021, with sexually exploiting children, distributing child pornography, cyberstalking, enticing a child online, and transferring obscene material to a minor.

Two days later, Homeland Security agents searched the home he shared with his mother, sister and sister's family, according to the U.S. attorney's office. McCarty was arrested while visiting a cousin in California the same day.

The Oregon man pleaded guilty to one count of enticing a minor online and two counts of sexually exploiting children on Feb. 15 of this year, and was sentenced to prison on Oct. 13.

"Online exploitation poses a grave threat to the well-being of our youth, and this case highlights the importance of cross-border co-operation in combating these crimes," Comox Valley RCMP Insp. Mike Kurvers said in a statement Thursday.

"We commend the dedication and collaboration of our investigative unit and counterparts in Canada and the United States in ensuring that justice is served."

Sgt. Dave Knight of the Surrey RCMP's internet child exploitation unit says the conviction and 20-year sentence proves that online predators cannot find anonymity by committing their crimes across international borders.

"Our investigators recognize the value in building strong working relationships with international partner agencies," Knight said. "This enables us to successfully target offenders as we work towards the common goal of keeping our children safe from online exploitation."