Michael Macartney, 50, confessed to the BBC his role in an extreme monkey torture network.

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.

  • @magnusrufus@lemmy.world
    27•3 months ago

    This type of comment always really bothers me. You are misrepresenting what is being compared. It’s not running chatrooms that is being judged. It’s facilitating and organizing the creation and distribution of animal torture content. If he was running chatrooms about my little pony no one would care. Framing it as running chat rooms is dishonest. Flying planes isn’t bad. Flying planes into buildings is. Say out loud the part you are trying to to minimize.

    • @ABCDE@lemmy.world
      -13•3 months ago

      How so? I didn’t say he ran some innocent or general chat groups, they were obviously involved in horrific shit. You are misrepresenting what I am saying.

      • @Honytawk@lemmy.zip
        7•3 months ago

        Without him the tortures wouldn’t have happened or at least be minimised.

        So he is directly responsible for the extra torture he himself knowingly facilitated.

              • @magnusrufus@lemmy.world
                2•3 months ago

                No one is saying that’s not true. You are not making a point there. Connecting the people willing to do it to the people willing to view it increases demand and increases the occurrence.

                • @ABCDE@lemmy.world
                  -3•3 months ago

                  You don’t seem to be making a very different point here. Yes, it increases demand, but, as I said, those committing the violence are the ones who should be held more to account in my opinion, which is what start this conversation chain.

                  • @magnusrufus@lemmy.world
                    2•3 months ago

                    The start of the conversation seems to be someone saying that what he did was fucked up and he deserves more than 5 years for it. Then you wanted to make a distinction about his role in the torture for entertainment industry. If your point was that the people committing the torture directly should receive longer sentences than him then you did just about the worst job possible to convey that.