Oregon Man Lands 20-Year Sentence for Exploiting B.C. Minors Online

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An individual from Oregon, aged 37, has been judicially sentenced to a twenty-year term in federal prison for his heinous crimes of child grooming and exploitation involving three innocent children from British Columbia. The man named Kevin Robert McCarty, a resident of Happy Valley, Ore., was found guilty of manipulating these children through social media platforms, Snapchat and Instagram, under the guise of the alias “Robbie MacKenzie”.

The United States Department of Homeland Security initiated the investigation against McCarty in September 2021 and disclosed that his illicit activities trace back to July 2020. They revealed that McCarty instigated the minors to share explicit content, exploiting them more as they complied by pressurizing them to create more explicit content.


The abuse reached a terrifying level when McCarty, upon facing resistance, blackmailed the victims with threats of revealing their shared images and videos to their loved ones. He even went as one might say, downright monstrous, suggesting on two occasions for the youngsters to contemplate ending their lives if they resisted his mandates.

As early as May 2021, Comox Valley RCMP was red-flagged concerning the sexual exploitation of a local minor. Parallel to their interrogation, they were informed of similar incidents from Surrey and the West Shore of Vancouver Island’s Mounties. Following ongoing investigations, McCarty faced charges on November 16, 2021, that included child exploitation, cyberstalking, child pornography circulation, online enticement of a minor, and transferring indecent content to a minor.

Two days post this, Homeland Security agenst ordered a search at McCarty’s residence, where he lived with his family – mother, sister, and her family. McCarty was apprehended the very day while visiting a cousin in California. He confessed before the court on February 15 this year to one count of enticing a minor online and two counts of child exploitation. Consequently, he was sentenced to federal prison on October 13.

Online exploitation is a peril looming over our children’s welfare and safety. Inspector Mike Kurvers from Comox Valley RCMP applauded the sheer determination and collective efforts of investigative teams from Canada and the United States, along with their cross-border collaboration in combating such crimes and ensuring justice is served.

Sergeant Dave Knight from Surrey RCMP’s internet child exploitation unit, asserted that the conviction and twenty-year sentence unequivocally send out a clear message to such online predators. There is no place to hide for those who commit these crimes across international borders. The proactive and cooperative approach between international agencies aids in the successful identification and prosecution of such offenders, aiming for children’s online safety from such predatory exploitation.