Two British women have been charged after a global monkey gang was exposed – with the US ringleader boasting how the group shared video suggestions including setting the animals on fire.
A year-long BBC probe found the cruel ring was operating around the world with hundreds paying Indonesians to torture and kill infant long-tailed macaques on video.
Michael Macartney, 50, dubbed the ‘Torture King’, has been charged in Virginia with conspiracy to create and distribute animal-crushing footage.
The defendant was one of three key distributors identified amid an investigation into cruel monkey torture gangs.
Two British women have also been charged following the investigation.
Holly LeGresley, 37, of Kidderminster, and Adriana Orme, 55, of Upton-upon Severn, were charged in March with publishing an obscene article and causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal.
Two British women have been charged after a global monkey gang involved in torturing the animals was exposed
In a secretly filmed video, M Ajis Rasjana talks to an undercover reporter. He says that if he is ‘very, very angry’ he hits the monkeys against the wall
Mr Macartney managed multiple chat groups for monkey torture enthusiasts from across the globe on the coded messaging app Telegram.
The messaging groups were used to present suggestions for monkey torture videos, such as setting monkeys on fire or even putting one in a blender.
The video suggestions were then sent alongside payments to video-makers in Indonesia who conducted the abuse, sometimes killing the baby long-tailed monkeys.
Mr Macartney is accused by prosecutors of gathering funds from his chat groups and distributing videos showing the ‘torture, murder and sexually sadistic mutilation of animals’. He has agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy charges and is facing up to five years in prison.
Speaking to the BBC Eye investigations team last year, Mr Macartney said: ‘You want to see monkeys get messed up? I could bring it to you.’
Discussing the moment he joined his first Telegram monkey group, he said: ‘They had a poll set up.
‘Do you want a hammer involved? Do you want pliers involved? Do you want a screwdriver?’
Three participants, including Mr Macartney, have already been charged in the US, according to the BBC.
Two people who carried out torture were arrested and imprisoned in Indonesia, while three women have been arrested in the UK, two of whom have now been charged.
The torture ring started on YouTube, before moving to private groups on Telegram, the BBC World Service investigation found.
In a secretly filmed video, M Ajis Rasjana tells an undercover reporter that when he is ‘very, very angry’ he hits the monkeys against the wall.
The torture ring started on YouTube, before moving to private groups on Telegram, the BBC World Service investigation found
He noted that he banged a monkey’s head against the wall and blood was coming out of its mouth, which he said was ‘so cool’, while laughing.
BBC journalists went undercover in one of the main Telegram torture groups, where hundreds of people got together to plan torture ideas and commission people in Indonesia and other nations in Asia to put them into practice.
The group aimed to make tailored videos showing the abuse, torture and sometimes killing of baby long-tailed macaque monkeys.
The BBC located the torturers in Indonesia, and the buyers and distributors in the US.
They also managed to access an international law enforcement effort to have them punished for their actions.
At least 20 people have been under investigation around the world, including three women living in the UK who were arrested by police in 2022.