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.

    • rottingleaf
      5·
      9 months ago

      That’s problematic, you’ll have to find the same kind of people and pay them.

      Rather just terminate them.

      • ouRKaoS@lemmy.today
        4·
        9 months ago

        Nah, you just put them up against each other, Thunderdome style, then execute the winner.

        • rottingleaf
          1·
          9 months ago

          I don’t like the idea of doing things their way, even by their own hands.

          Just chair or gallows or something like that.

          I think the same about Azeri war criminals (basically their entire army) too, for example.

          • ouRKaoS@lemmy.today
            1·
            9 months ago

            On one hand I understand that society needs to be better than those it punishes.

            On the other hand I’m wondering if we hit the hunger games or the running man first…