CHESAPEAKE, Va. — A Chesapeake man faces federal charges for conspiring to create and distribute animal torture videos.
Warning: The contents of this article may be disturbing to readers.
Michael Macartney, 50, was allegedly part of an international ring that circulated videos of small animals, usually monkeys, being tortured and killed.
According to a court referral published Thursday, Macartney intends to plead guilty to creating and distributing animal crush videos.
Court documents claim he participated in an online group from at least November 2021 until August 2022. Known as “The Torture King,” Macartney allegedly facilitated payments from online group members for the videos.
“Crush videos are certainly more widespread than most people would know because they are handled through private, protected servers,” explained Kristin Rickman, PETA’s emergency response team director. She says she’s glad to see Macartney is facing charges.
In one instance, court documents say a video published in the group showed a young monkey trapped in a jar of ants, being sodomized. The animal apparently died on camera.
“No matter how many crush cases we see or become involved with, the reaction is always the same because this content is so offensive and so damaging,” Rickman said.
The global ring was investigated by the BBC in 2023. Macartney spoke with reporters and said he spent time in a motorcycle gang before getting involved.
He also told them the online group would poll members on how they wanted animals to be tortured in future videos.
“I’m glad the public is not widely seeing these things because they are horrifying, they will traumatize individuals,” explained Rickman. “They will traumatize individuals by watching them or just hearing about them.”
Macartney also reportedly sold video copies. Investigators say, in August 2022, he had over 500 in his collection.
The BBCs' report claims most of the videos originated in Indonesia.