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.

167 points

I gotta admit, I was blissfully unaware that this was a thing. I really did not expect to read a headline like that this morning.

What in the fucking fuck is wrong with people? This motherfucker needs to spend the rest of his life behind bars. The biggest sign of a person becoming a serial killer is their treatment of animals. I mean, he’s already been to prison, so it’s not like he has any interest in being rehabilitated in prison.

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43 points

I agree with you but to be fair our prison system is terrible at rehabilitation. Sure it works sometimes but it’s not their main focus.

Did you read about the prison that is denying everyone in person visits so they can charge money for phone calls and video calls? They’re getting a kick back from the companies whk run those systems. Fucking gross.

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26 points

I am pretty sure that rehabilitation only happens in spite of our prison system.

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6 points

The goal of the private prisons is to get the individual to commit more crimes so they get paid more. This means they are being paid to encourage and change people to break the law, as opposed to teach them to be better

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3 points

The US prison system is punitive not rehabilitative.

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4 points

Prisons and jails are what we have instead of mental healthcare.

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2 points

I don’t think OP is looking to rehabilitate the torture king…

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24 points

The biggest sign of a person becoming a serial killer is their treatment of animals.

I’m going to guess this is the second biggest sign with the first biggest sign being specifically their treatment of the animals most closely related to humans.

Like torturing worms? Maybe 50% chance

Torturing dogs has got to be a good 80%

Torturing monkeys has got to be like a 99%+ chance of being a serial killer.

Jesus Christ.

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26 points

The second biggest sign is the huge ass Trump and confederate flag behind him.

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2 points
*

I kept reading “words” as “women”… felt real concerned for a minute there

E: “worms.” I kept reading “worms” as “women.” It’s definitely time for bed now. ✌️

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11 points

A woman who made crush videos involving kittens ended up being posted on 4chan. They did their thing. Last I heard she was never heard from again.

4chan is a true agent of chaos but sometimes they focus their powers on the right people.

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2 points

Chaotic neutral at best. I tried 4chan a bit but hated the captchca system to post so looks like yall are stuck with me!

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2 points

I’ve tried it more than a few times over the years. 99% of the time it’s porn and racism. It’s a website that’s best viewed at a distance with people take screenshots of the shit that’s actually worth seeing.

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7 points

Yay for prison. And crush his balls first.

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8 points

State-sponsored torture is still torture. And, in my opinion, worse.

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1 point
*

This sounds cruel and unusual.

Please do not forget that we are NOT him.

Sometimes the hardest thing in life is to be a portrait of yourself, rather then a mirror reflecting the world around you.

My paint is fading…

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2 points

Assume the worst, and maybe one day you will be presently surprised.

One day…

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108 points

Well I am shocked that a person like this would be A Trump supporter and love the Confederacy. /s

He should be up for now than 5 years. This is completely fucked.

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58 points

Ironically, his 5 year sentence would be longer than the Confederacy lasted.

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30 points
*

Don’t worry. Trump supporters will just hand wave this as some sort of false flag.

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16 points

LMAO, they’ll call him a legitimate businessman running a legitimate business, why is the government getting in the way of a stand-up American’s monkey-torture distribution network!

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13 points

Whaaaaat? Confederate and Trump flags? I’m so surprised!

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3 points
*

With motherfuckin Ice Cube on a T-shirt that’s hanging on the wall, too. Says “Boyz N Da Hood” and everything.

What song of his do you think this POS likes?

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6 points

That CAT shirt isn’t a good look either. That company is full of sadistic fuckers. They’ll probably promote him for this.

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-61 points

He didn’t do the actual stuff though, he got people in Indonesia to do it.

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47 points

Congratulations, you’ve figured out what a distributor does.

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-48 points

Okay? People in the comments are talking as if he’s the one doing the torturing and killing.

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13 points

Imagine defending the fucking torture king

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-9 points

Imagine imagining that I am.

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12 points

Conspiracy then. Just as bad.

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-7 points

How so?

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10 points

Meanwhile, Charles Manson is in prison, even though he never killed anyone with his own hands.

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1 point

He died like 7 years ago.

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-19 points

In that case he received the same sentence as Atkins, death, commuted to life. Good example, although he was more directly involved due to proximity.

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8 points
*

Which adds a while other level of hypocrisy. Why can’t he have good ol’ Americans do the job? Are they not good enough for him?

Also don’t care that he did not directly do it. He was facilitating it and it would not have happened on the same scale without his help. So in essence, he absolutely caused the torture of monkeys. Should someone who goes a hitman not be charged with anything? The hit man isn’t killing the victim without pay so obviously the person hiring one should be charged.

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0 points
*

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-50137450

This was the example which came to mind, where the original person was sentenced with the strongest punishment, then the subsequent people each received subsequently lighter ones.

https://newjerseymonitor.com/2023/06/29/sean-caddle-sentenced-to-24-years-in-prison-for-2014-slaying/

However this disagrees with my stance, and gave the person who requested a hitman a longer sentence than the two who committed the murder (24, v 16 and 20 years respectively).

I upvoted you, by the way, in case you thought it was me who downvoted.

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2 points

Wow! When you put it that way he’s basically a political prisoner. BRB going to set up a gofundme for this sweet misunderstood angel.

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89 points

… monkey torture enthusiasts …

wat

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60 points

Pretty sure anyone claiming to be that just likes torture, and monkeys are the closest they can get to humans without facing way more prison time.

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3 points

Pretty much this. They’re about two steps removed from actual serial killer tendencies - I’m betting more than a few of these guys wound up needing a fresh pair of underwear after making a video, if you get me.

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21 points

If this was an onion headline I’d think it’s maybe a little too outlandish to be believable.

Dude literally just crushed monkeys for… Profit? What in the nine hells would compel a person to do that. To pay to see it??

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14 points

I’ve heard of KittenCrush, but not MonkeyCrush… I think the KittenCrush folks are also in prison.

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7 points

:( oh noes

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13 points
*

…animal-crushing videos…

Somehow it gets worse with every sentence

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9 points

“torture, murder, and sexually sadistic mutilation of animals” it gets worse

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78 points
*

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.

WHAT THE FUCK. 5 YEARS?!

FOR SEXUALLY ABUSING, TORTURING, AND MUTILATING ANIMALS FOR PROFIT?!

And of course hes a MAGAt. Fucking soulless, worthless cumstains on the fabric of society.

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36 points
*

Distributing 500 grams of cocaine? 5 year prison sentence.

Distributing 5 grams of cocaine cut with baking soda? 5 year prison sentence.

Sexually abusing, mutilating, and slaughtering animals in the most sadistic methods imaginable? 5 year prison sentence.

American criminal justice system is extremely normal.

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13 points

white conservatives get slapped on the wrist no matter how egregious their crimes.

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3 points

And yet they still scream about “Woke”. I guess a part of their subconscious is self aware.

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3 points
Deleted by creator
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1 point

*Up to 5 years. So probably 2 with good behaviour.

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75 points

I could have done without knowing that this was a thing. What a fucking world.

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16 points

I already knew that animal torture communities were present, especially on YouTube where they seem to focus mainly on feeding random animals to large snakes, so the news is welcome to me because it’s one less thing to feel sad about. I hope those people continue getting exposed and charged for their crimes.

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