U.S. man sentenced to 20 years in prison for sexually exploiting B.C. youth via social media

A man in Oregon has been sentenced to 20 years in a U.S. federal prison for sexually exploiting three children in British Columbia via social media.

Kevin Robert McCarty, 37 who usedthe alias "Robbie MacKenzie" online was found to have contactedyoung people through social media and coercedthem to take and share sexually explicit photos and videos of themselves, B.C. RCMP said in a release.

He would then threaten to share the images with their friends and familyunless they sent more, police said, addingthat in two instances, he told victims they should kill themselves if they did not comply.

He used multiple platforms, including Snapchat and Instagram, police said.

The investigation began after a report of sexual exploitation in the Comox Valley, on Vancouver Island, in May 2021,RCMPsaid in the release.

Similar reports were then made to Surrey and West Shore RCMP, as well as other municipal police forces, it said.

As it conducted its investigation, the Comox Valley Major Crime Unit identified that the suspect was in the United States. U.S. Homeland Security then took over the investigation, with additional assistance from Canadian police, RCMP said.

According to the U.S. Department of Justice, McCarty was arrested and charged in November 2021.

In February 2023 , he pleaded guilty to three U.S. felony charges: one count of enticing a minor online and two counts of sexually exploiting children.

He has now been sentenced to 20 years in federal prison, and a lifetime of supervision.