A Virginia man who funded videos shot in Indonesia of monkeys being tortured and killed, and shared them with other users via online messaging groups, pleaded guilty Tuesday to a conspiracy to distribute videos depicting extreme animal abuse.
Federal prosecutors said Michael Macartney, 51, of Chesapeake, Va., and his associates used an encrypted messaging platform to round up funds for videos depicting “the torture, murder, and sexually sadistic mutilation of animals, specifically, juvenile and adult monkeys.” It was an elaborate operation, spanning multiple private chat groups in several countries, according to documents filed in U.S. District Court in Norfolk.
Va. man who funded animal abuse videos in Indonesia pleads guilty