'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."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
NEW Is there a cost to convenience? Canada approves new cancer immunotherapy treatment
A new cancer treatment recently approved in Canada promises to cut treatment time down to just minutes, but experts have differing opinions on whether it's what's best for patients.
Air Canada walks back new seat selection policy change after backlash
Air Canada has paused a new seat selection fee for travellers booked on the lowest fares just days after implementing it.
Canada's new dental program offering hope of free care to millions but many dentists aren't signed up
A new Canadian dental care program is offering the hope of free care to millions, but while 1.7 million people have signed up for the plan, only about 5,000 dentists have done the same.
Province boots mayor and council in small northern Ont. town out of office
An ongoing municipal strike, court battles and revolt by half of council has prompted the province to oust the mayor and council in Black River-Matheson.
King Charles III returns to public duties with a trip to a cancer charity
King Charles III will return to public duties on Tuesday when he visits a cancer treatment charity, beginning his carefully managed comeback after the monarch’s own cancer diagnosis sidelined him for three months.
NDP says Ottawa's new grocery task force isn't living up to government promises
The federal government says the task force it created to monitor and investigate grocery retailers' practices has not conducted any probes and doesn't have a mandate to take enforcement action.
A group of Toronto tenants have been on a rent strike for a year and say there's no resolution in sight
Dozens of tenants in Toronto's Thorncliffe Park area have now been withholding their rent for one year, and it’s unclear when the dispute will end.
Archeologists search for remnants of Halifax's 250-year-old wall that surrounded the city
Archeologist Jonathan Fowler is using ground-penetrating radar to search for historic evidence of the massive wall that surrounded Halifax more than 250 years ago.
Kazakhstan arrests ex-interior minister in connection with unrest that left 238 dead
Authorities in Kazakhstan arrested a former interior minister on Tuesday, in connection with deadly police crackdown on unrest that gripped the country in 2022, Kazakh news media reported.