- There sure are some sick people out there.
Everybody loves watching animal videos on the internet. Some people, however, really shouldn’t.
A year-long investigation by BBC journalists has revealed the existence of a sickening online network sharing horrific animal abuse videos over social media. Particularly, the group focused on torturing long-tailed macaques: small Southeast Asian monkeys.
Few people, typically located in Asia, would brutalize and kill the monkeys on camera. The videos would then move to key distributors in various countries who would then sell them forward to an audience of other sickos.
Fortunately, the torture ring has now been uncovered and at least 20 people are under investigation around the world. Multiple arrests have also already taken place.
Fair warning: this story contains descriptions and references to extreme animal abuse. If you’re sensitive to this stuff, go read about the most bizarre auctions or something instead.
Sick Ecosystem
The monkey torture videos are exactly what they sound like. They depict people injuring and slaughtering the poor animals using a horrendously creative set of tools.
According to the BBC investigation, the abuse videos were originally shared on YouTube. As the platform increased scrutiny over its uploads over the years, the ring moved to more secretive corners of the internet.
The videos are reportedly still being shared in private Facebook groups. However, it appears the network had moved to the encrypted messaging Telegram.
Within these private groups, the torture video producers would interact with their twisted fans much like a regular social media content producer might — only with much more malevolence.
They would regularly host polls where the group members got to vote on the kind of horrific fate awaiting the next monkey. For example, they could cast their vote between a hammer, pliers, or screwdriver.
The results of the vote would then be sent to the people actually filming the videos. After finalizing the footage, it would go back to the producer/distributor who would sell it to the group members.
Essentially, the whole thing worked like Patreon for depraved sadists.
‘Torture King’ & Co.
After the BBC exposed the network, police from all over the world have cracked down on the monkey videos’ producers, distributors, and buyers. In the U.S., the most high-profile arrests have been those of Michael Macartney, Stacey Storey, and “Mr. Ape.”
Macartney was known in the network by the alias “Torture King.” The gruesome name was appropriate, as the 50-year-old ex-motorcycle gang member from Virginia acted basically as a ringleader.
“I was the man. You want to see monkeys get messed up? I could bring it to you,” he bragged in a BBC interview.
Macartney has now been arrested and was charged in early April with conspiracy to distribute videos featuring “torture, murder, and sexually sadistic mutilation of animals, specifically juvenile and adult monkeys.” He plans to plead guilty to the charges.
Stacey Storey, meanwhile, is a 40-something grandmother from Alabama who went by the nickname “Sadistic.” If you thought Macartney was bad, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) states Storey paid for the creation of some of the most revolting videos shared in the groups, including one featuring a blender.
When the DHS seized her phone, they discovered more than 100 monkey torture videos. For her part, she claims her phone was hacked — despite evidence that she was active in the group shortly before her arrest.
And then there’s Mr. Ape, who the media hasn’t been able to name because of “safety reasons.” We can’t help but wonder what his position is.
Yet, he has confessed to being directly responsible for the deaths of at least four monkeys, and the torture of many more, through his video commissions.
Worldwide Crackdown
The monkey torture ring spanned the globe, however, and arrests have been made in other countries as well. Some of them have already led to prison sentences.
Indonesian police have arrested two people who physically tortured macaques for money. Asep Yadi Nurul Hikmah has received a three-year prison sentence for animal torture and sale of a protected species, while Ajis Rasjana has gone behind bars for eight months.
In the U.K., meanwhile, three women have been slapped with animal abuse charges. They include Holly LeGresley, 37, and Adriana Orme, 55. Both have been charged with the publication of an obscene article and causing unnecessary suffering to protected animals.
Out of the two, LeGresley appears to have been a prominent ring member, as she was a moderator in a social media group Macartney operated. Her online alias was “The Immolator,” and we don’t dare think of why.
A Growing Problem
Although this group of psychos is now facing retribution, the problem is likely not yet solved. According to people working to protect long-tailed macaques, their torture for people’s deranged amusement is a growing issue.
“We’ve seen an escalation in this extreme, graphic content, which used to be hidden but is now circulating openly on platforms like Facebook,” Sarah Kite, co-founder of animal charity Action for Primates, told BBC.
Indeed, the BBC investigators state they found dozens of easily accessible animal torture groups, both on Telegram and Facebook. Some reportedly have more than 1,000 members.
Although Facebook says it deletes such groups as soon as it becomes aware of them, things aren’t so easy on encrypted, privacy-oriented platforms like Telegram. Simply due to how its system works, Telegram moderators can’t access private groups and rely on user reports to find forbidden content.
And how many people called “Torture King” or “The Immolator” are going to give themselves up?