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Giancarlo Morelli, the Garden State resident, and Nicholas T. Dryden planned to create and distribute videos showing acts of sadistic violence against baby, adolescent and adult monkeys in March and April 2023, according to Assistant Attorney General Todd Kim of the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division.
The two funneled money through Dryden, who then paid a minor in Indonesia to commit the requested acts on camera, Kim said alongside U.S. Attorney Kenneth L. Parker for the Southern District of Ohio.
** WARNING: The following news story contains disturbing information detailing animal abuse. Reader discretion is advised. **
The videos showed monkeys having their genitals burned, having their genitals cut with scissors, being sodomized with a wooden skewer and being sodomized with a spoon, authorities said.
Morelli and Dryden were both charged with conspiracy to create and distribute "animal crush videos," while Dryden was also charged with the creation of animal crush videos, as well as with production, distribution and receipt of a visual depiction of the sexual abuse of children because a minor was paid to abuse the monkeys.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and FBI investigated the case.
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