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Ringleader of global monkey torture network, 'The Torture King', is charged

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A ringleader in a global monkey torture network exposed by the BBC has been charged by US federal prosecutors.

Michael Macartney, 50, who went by the alias "Torture King", was charged in Virginia with conspiracy to create and distribute animal-crushing videos.

Mr Macartney was one of three key distributors identified by the BBC Eye team during a year-long investigation into sadistic monkey torture groups.

Two women have also been charged in the UK following the investigation.

Warning: This article contains disturbing content

Mr Macartney, a former motorcycle gang member who previously spent time in prison, ran several chat groups for monkey torture enthusiasts from around the world on the encrypted messaging app Telegram.

The groups were used to share ideas for custom-made torture videos, such as setting live monkeys on fire, injuring them with tools and even putting one in a blender.

The ideas were then sent, along with payments, to video-makers in Indonesia who carried them out, sometimes killing the baby long-tailed macaque monkeys in the process.


Global network of sadistic monkey torture exposed
According to charging documents, Mr Macartney, who lives in the US state of Virginia, is accused by prosecutors of collecting funds from his chat groups and distributing videos depicting the "torture, murder, and sexually sadistic mutilation of animals, specifically juvenile and adult monkeys".

Mr Macartney has cooperated with investigators from the Department of Homeland Security and agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy charges. He will formally make a plea later this month and is facing up to five years in prison.

Speaking to the BBC Eye investigations team last year, Mr Macartney confessed to his role in the torture network, describing himself as the "king of this demented world".

"I was the man," he said. "You want to see monkeys get messed up? I could bring it to you."

Mr Macartney also described the moment he joined his first Telegram monkey group.

"They had a poll set up," he said. "Do you want a hammer involved? Do you want pliers involved? Do you want a screwdriver?"

The resulting videos were "the most grotesque thing I have ever seen", Mr Macartney said, and yet he went on to become a key player in the monkey torture groups.

The BBC understands that more charges are expected to follow soon for other key players in the monkey torture network. At least 20 people were placed under investigation last year globally, following the BBC's investigation.

Three participants have already been charged in the US, including Mr Macartney. Two torturers were arrested and jailed in Indonesia, and three women have been arrested in the UK, two of whom have been charged.

Holly LeGresley, 37, of Kidderminster and Adriana Orme, 55, of Upton-upon Severn were charged last month with publishing an obscene article and causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal.

Ms LeGresley and Ms Orme were high-profile members of the online torture groups. Ms LeGresley, who went by the screen name "The Immolator", was a moderator in a group run by Mr Macartney and was involved in commissioning some of the most extreme videos.

In the US, two others have been charged with the same counts as Mr Macartney.

David Christopher Noble, 48, a former US Air Force officer who was previously court-martialed and dismissed from the military, and Nicole Devilbiss, 35. They are both facing up to five years in prison.

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Posted
6 minutes ago, locodos said:

The groups were used to share ideas for custom-made torture videos, such as setting live monkeys on fire, injuring them with tools and even putting one in a blender.

The ideas were then sent, along with payments, to video-makers in Indonesia who carried them out, sometimes killing the baby long-tailed macaque monkeys in the process.

Can we crowd-source a big-ass blender and put him in it?

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Posted

1. How does one discover that they are a “monkey torture enthusiast?” That’s some real specific, sick shit. 


2. The picture tells you pretty much everything you need to know about this cretin.

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Posted

This has been an ongoing issue around the globe. I can't tell you how many times I've spanked my monkey - just not in public.

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Posted
15 minutes ago, freyguy said:

Didn't they used to show these videos on San Antonio public access back in the day?

Yeah, I went to some 'transportation lab' or whatever the fuck it was called for some conference like 10 years ago.  And somebody said the place used to do batshit torture experiments there and the feds shut it down for awhile.  I can't remember the place or the backstory but it on the NW side of town and there was definitely talk of monkey torture.  I dunno if they used them crash test dummies or someshit but the couple stories I heard were way fucked up.  

Posted
3 minutes ago, YGIFS said:

Yeah, I went to some 'transportation lab' or whatever the fuck it was called for some conference like 10 years ago.  And somebody said the place used to do batshit torture experiments there and the feds shut it down for awhile.  I can't remember the place or the backstory but it on the NW side of town and there was definitely talk of monkey torture.  I dunno if they used them crash test dummies or someshit but the couple stories I heard were way fucked up.  

There is a big difference between animal medical testing and having an internet poll if you want to have monkey tortured with a hammer, pliers, or a blender.

I'm not wild about the medical testing, but it is not done for sadistic joy and should have positive benefits to mankind.

Posted

Wait, a monkey in a blender?  Thanks for the nightmare fuel asshole.  Of course, given the flags behind him...the blender is only his second dumbest decision in life.  

Posted

And he’ll still probably be eligible to have a vote that counts as much as ours until he’s finally sentenced in 2025.  
 

if only we had a few extra dollars in this country to address mental illness.  Hmmmm.  In the meantime, I guess I’ll wait for the ballistic experts to chime in on what caliber the blender was.  

Posted
1 hour ago, YGIFS said:

And he’ll still probably be eligible to have a vote that counts as much as ours until he’s finally sentenced in 2025.  
 

Pretty sure he's already a convicted felon

Posted
2 minutes ago, NorthLoop said:

Pretty sure he's already a convicted felon

Well that's an awkward conversation to have with your parole officer.

"So what was it this time?  Drugs?  Assault?  Larceny?"

-Uh, I put a monkey in a blender in the name of our false god. 

"Okay.  Can you just go back out into the lobby.  I'm gonna need some time to find that page in my binders.  

Posted
3 hours ago, locodos said:

Ringleader of global monkey torture network, 'The Torture King', is charged

 

To me this seemed so over-the-top that it seems like a piss-poor attempt at a fake Onion type article.  So I Googled it...

Not only is it real.  The BBC broke this story last June.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-65951188

The 'new' part is that he was finally charged.

 

Some people just suck.

Posted
2 hours ago, Hammerin Hank said:

I really wish I hadn’t read that article. What a fucked up world

I had to stop reading.  Fucking despicable.

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Posted
3 hours ago, Deej said:

Put him in a cage with a pissed off chimp. 

Should I speak to a lawyer before I admit to being interested in that?

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Posted (edited)
8 minutes ago, DigglerontheHoof said:

IMO anyone involved it this...spectators, organizers, animal wranglers...every single one of them should spend the rest of their lives in prison.  Fucking psychopaths. 

So it's wrong to beat the monkey? What if it is your monkey?

Edited by Bevo
Posted

I mean it does makes sense the person named “devilbiss” as a real last name would be involved in this…what the fuck did I just read? Sexual too? Got damn f that all that. I wonder what will happen when we put this in a blender…you really need to see that? You couldn’t just figure out how that will go? Sorry, just maddening. 

Posted
16 minutes ago, RockyMountainHighHorn said:

I mean it does makes sense the person named “devilbiss” as a real last name would be involved in this…what the fuck did I just read? Sexual too? Got damn f that all that. I wonder what will happen when we put this in a blender…you really need to see that? You couldn’t just figure out how that will go? Sorry, just maddening. 

devillbiss makes air compressor air cleaners  and dryers. He is probably related to the company founder.

Posted
4 hours ago, YGIFS said:

Yeah, I went to some 'transportation lab' or whatever the fuck it was called for some conference like 10 years ago.  And somebody said the place used to do batshit torture experiments there and the feds shut it down for awhile.  I can't remember the place or the backstory but it on the NW side of town and there was definitely talk of monkey torture.  I dunno if they used them crash test dummies or someshit but the couple stories I heard were way fucked up.  

You talking about Southwest Research?

 

1 hour ago, DigglerontheHoof said:

I don't torture mine, just spank it. 

What does “he” call it?

Sinner /chrisfarley

 

Posted
1 hour ago, DigglerontheHoof said:

IMO anyone involved it this...spectators, organizers, animal wranglers...every single one of them should spend the rest of their lives in prison.  Fucking psychopaths. 

You say “prison” I say a giant “blender”

  • 3 weeks later...
Posted

Didn't know where else to put this and didn't want to start a new thread. 

People suck. Video in the link.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/people-caught-on-camera-pulling-bear-cubs-from-trees-in-north-carolina/ar-AA1ns4oS

State officials in North Carolina are investigating after a group of people were captured on video yanking black bear cubs from a tree to take a selfie.

Video obtained the USA TODAY Network shows four people, including what appears to be an older woman, trying to grab two black bear cubs, perched on a tree branch extending over a short fence to the apartment property. An older man with gray and white hair stands close by in a baseball cap watching the melee and does not intervene.

At one point, one of the woman successfully gets ahold of one cub, and screams in excitement.

After apparently taking pictures holding the cub, an animal shrieking noise is heard, and the bear drops to the ground. The cub then runs along the inside of the fence and tries to climb it as the woman chases after it.

According to a release from the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission, a bear cub bit one of the people during the interaction.

As of Friday, officials had not publicly identified the individuals involved.

Posted
21 minutes ago, crash_davis said:

Didn't know where else to put this and didn't want to start a new thread. 

People suck. Video in the link.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/people-caught-on-camera-pulling-bear-cubs-from-trees-in-north-carolina/ar-AA1ns4oS

State officials in North Carolina are investigating after a group of people were captured on video yanking black bear cubs from a tree to take a selfie.

Video obtained the USA TODAY Network shows four people, including what appears to be an older woman, trying to grab two black bear cubs, perched on a tree branch extending over a short fence to the apartment property. An older man with gray and white hair stands close by in a baseball cap watching the melee and does not intervene.

At one point, one of the woman successfully gets ahold of one cub, and screams in excitement.

After apparently taking pictures holding the cub, an animal shrieking noise is heard, and the bear drops to the ground. The cub then runs along the inside of the fence and tries to climb it as the woman chases after it.

According to a release from the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission, a bear cub bit one of the people during the interaction.

As of Friday, officials had not publicly identified the individuals involved.

Years ago I interviewed a dude for a job in a field that requires significant postgraduate education and training. Meaning that this guy, at least on paper, should be a pretty civilized dude. In my routine search of the web after I interviewed him I found his website for his side hustle. What was this side hustle? As a guide for hunting bears in Siberia. Only in this case, the bears were at a severe disadvantage since they were fucking hibernating. Needless to say, he did not get the job. That and his criminal background check revealed he had been arrested for beating the shit out of the guy his wife was cheating with  and then stole his Rolex.

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Posted

Monkey Torture Enthusiasts is a terrible band name. I only browsed the article, would become seriously ill if it’s that much detail. CSB, one of my law partners joined the firm about 10 years ago from the DAs office. He shared that one of his assignments there was a highly publicized case of a couple that was fucking dogs and filming it for sick fucks on the internet. He was assigned to view every minute of every video and determine what snippets would be presented to the jury. Pretty sure I’d quit and become a plumber or something. 

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Posted
On 4/3/2024 at 10:44 AM, 0xdeadbeef said:

 

To me this seemed so over-the-top that it seems like a piss-poor attempt at a fake Onion type article.  So I Googled it...

Not only is it real.  The BBC broke this story last June.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-65951188

The 'new' part is that he was finally charged.

 

Some people just suck.

 

On 4/3/2024 at 10:47 AM, Sbbruin said:

I had to stop reading.  Fucking despicable.

I was on another message board where a prominent poster there suddenly vanished after he'd been picked up for torturing puppies for sexual gratification.

The charges were so awful, the judge excused everyone but the people who needed to know about them when they were read.

Now, every time I see news like this, I wonder if they're squealing in each other to lessen the charges, if it was all part of one Interpol investigation, etc.

High octane nightmare fuel that people like this exist.

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Posted (edited)
4 minutes ago, BabaYaga said:

Let's back up - where the fuck do you get a monkey?

Amazon Primate.

 

 

(And fuck all these fucking fucks. The Russian army's too good for them. Well, maybe not.)

Edited by flatdawgs
Clarity on how much these sick bastards suck
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Posted
1 hour ago, crash_davis said:

State officials in North Carolina are investigating after a group of people were captured on video yanking black bear cubs from a tree to take a selfie.

 

Where the hell was mom?

And mom, FYI - please eat these people....

200w.gif?cid=6c09b952unsyvptcltyxpummez1

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  • 1 year later...
Posted

Not enough jail time for these fuck wits.   

A Scottish mother-of-two involved in a global monkey torture network has been jailed for more than two years.

Natalie Herron, 39, from Airdrie in North Lanarkshire, joined online chat groups which encouraged torture of macaques by offenders based in Indonesia.

Airdrie Sheriff Court heard how she became a group administrator for the network, which was exposed by a BBC investigation, and shared hundreds of images and videos of the abuse.

The group paid for baby long-tailed macaques to be taken from their mothers in Indonesia before they were tortured and killed.

WARNING: This article contains distressing details of animal torture.

The acts of cruelty included crucifixion, machete attacks and one video that showed a baby monkey being dipped in boiling oil.

The court heard how Herron had made contact online with Michael Macartney, the US-based ringleader of the network who used the alias "The Torture King".

This is the first time someone has been sentenced in Scotland for cruelty that took place abroad.

Investigators from the National Crime Agency alerted Police Scotland and a raid on Herron's home in 2022 discovered an iPhone with 1,084 images and videos of monkey torture.

Investigators discovered 4,000 messages on a WhatsApp group which had been sent by Herron discussing torture and hatred of the animals.

Messages included one that said: "I am shocked how easily the drill went through the skull, it was like butter."

Another message read: "Trying to find a video where they will kill the mum and the babies watch."

Herron was sentenced to two years and three months in prison.

She had earlier admitted two charges of possessing and distributing obscene material, namely videos depicting animal torture, between October 2021 and September 2022 at her home address.

She admitted a further charge of behaving in a threatening or abusive manner likely to cause fear or alarm by sending messages to various online and social media groups which described and promoted animal torture.

The court was told she made payments to Macartney but she claimed it was not for the videos but to "help him".

Joel Gunter/BBC Mike Macartney is pictured in front of a Confederate flag and a Trump 2020 banner. He has short hair and a beard and is leaning on a red and white checked table as he looks out of the pictureJoel Gunter/BBC
 
Mike Macartney was last year jailed for three years and four months

Members of the online group, who claimed they were angered at the monkeys destroying land in Indonesia, voted on proposed methods of torture.

Nicky Matteo, defending, said: "In all the years I have been practising I have not seen a case like this. It has not been a pleasant experience.

"She [Herron] has had horrific problems in life and she built up a connection with other group members.

"She was trying to ingratiate herself with other members, it was a false sense of escapism.

"She is no longer the person that was responsible for sending those messages. She recognises the severity of it."

Sentencing Herron, Sheriff Derek Livingston said: "The fact you not only joined these groups but then helped to facilitate them only helped to increase the animals' suffering."

The BBC investigation uncovered the network that began life on YouTube before it moved to private groups on the messaging app Telegram.

Macartney, 51, was jailed last year after pleading guilty in the US state of Virginia to conspiracy to create and distribute animal cruelty videos.

He was sentenced to three years and four months in jail.

A month later, Adriana Orme, 56, from Upton-upon-Severn, and Holly Le Gresley, 37, from Kidderminster, were jailed after admitting being part of the global network.

'Immense suffering'

Police Scotland officers said it was one of the most horrific cases they had dealt with and the material was like nothing they had seen before.

Det Sgt Karen Murray said: "This was a long and complex investigation which involved a number of organisations including the National Crime Agency (NCA) and the National Wildlife Crime Unit (NWCU) and was the first of its kind in the UK.

"Thanks to the work of these organisations, Herron will now face the consequences of her actions which contributed to the cruel torture and immense suffering of a number of innocent animals."

She added: "This was one of the most disturbing and graphic cases we have worked on and we hope this sentence shows that even though the cruelty took place abroad, that these types of crimes will not be tolerated and we will use all the tools at our disposal to hold people accountable."

Det Insp Mark Harrison, from the National Wildlife Crime Unit, said: "This investigation is truly shocking and unsettling.

"The people involved are not just motivated by money, this is also about getting some sort of gratification from watching animals being tortured and then sharing those images with others."

Procurator fiscal Faye Cook said: "The videos and images that Natalie Herron bought and shared online are horrendous.

"These animals were shown to be suffering extreme pain. This has been a distressing case for the prosecution team and police, but we have held Natalie Herron accountable.

"Individuals involved in the distribution of graphic and obscene online content depicting violent torture should be forewarned that this behaviour is not only repellent, but is against the law and will be prosecuted."

Anyone who has any concerns around such behaviour is asked to contact Police Scotland.

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