A sadistic global monkey torture ring stretching from Indonesia to the United States has been exposed, according to a report by BBC on Tuesday (June 20). The report found hundreds of customers in the US, the United Kingdom (UK), and elsewhere paying Indonesians to torture and kill baby long-tailed macaques on camera. The torture ring started on YouTube before it moved on to private groups on Telegram.
One of the main Telegram torture groups had hundreds of people gathered to come up with extreme torture ideas commissioning people in Indonesia and other Asian countries to carry them out. The goal was to create bespoke films where baby long-tailed macaques were abused, tortured, and sometimes killed on camera.
Twenty people under probe globally
The BBC report on Tuesday said that at least 20 people are under investigation in the case. These include three women living in the UK who were arrested last year and released under probe and one man in the US state of Oregon who was indicted last week.
Several arrests have already been made and the police are now pursuing the buyers of such films.
‘Went from baby bottle teasing to fingers being…’: Video distributor reveals gory details
Speaking to the BBC, Mike McCartney, a key video distributor in the US, talked about the moment when he first joined a monkey torture group on Telegram. McCartney, whose screen name was “The Torture King”, said the group had a poll set up.
“Do you want a hammer involved? Do you want pliers involved? Do you want a screwdriver?” The resulting video was “the most grotesque thing I have ever seen,” McCartney said.
He highlighted that the monkey torture ring was no different from drug money. “Drug money comes from dirty hands, this money comes from bloody hands,” McCartney told the network.
A former motorcycle gang member who spent time in jail, McCartney entered the monkey torture world and ended up running several groups on Telegram where hardcore torture enthusiasts distributed videos.
“It went from baby bottle teasing to fingers being snipped off,” he further said,
US probes keys suspects
The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is investigating two key suspects in the case. Stacey Storey and a ring leader “Mr Ape.” DHS agents seized Storey’s phone where they found nearly 100 torture videos. The agents also found evidence that Storey paid for the creation of some of the most extreme videos produced.
Citing police sources, the BBC report said Storey was active in a torture group as recently as earlier this month. In January, she told the BBC that she was hacked and did not comment on the allegations.
Mr Ape, whose real name has not been revealed, told the network he was behind the deaths of at least four monkeys and the torture of many more.
The report further said that Storey, Mr Ape and Mike McCartney are three of the five suspects in the DHS investigation. They are yet to be charged but could be jailed for seven years if they are prosecuted based on evidence gathered by the department.
Monkey torture videos still accessible
BBC also reported that the videos were still easily accessible on Telegram and Facebook. Facebook said it removed the groups that were brought to the social media giant’s attention. YouTube told BBC that animal abuse had no place on its platform and that the company was working to quickly remove violative content.
Telegram, meanwhile, said it was “committed to protecting user privacy and human rights such as freedom of speech.” Telegram said its moderators could not proactively patrol private groups.
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