HOUSTON
A Houston woman plead guilty today to creating and distributing videos depicting the torture and killing of puppies, chickens and kittens, officials said today.
Ashley Nicole Richards 24, plead guilty in federal court of making what she referred to as “animal crush videos,” according to authorities.
This is the first known case to be indicted in federal court since the law was amended in 2010, officials said.
The case went all the way up to the U.S. Supreme Court, and sparked outrage by animal rights groups and animal owners, officials said.
Today, Richards pleaded guilty to all five counts as charged, four counts of producing and one count of distribution of the animal crush videos which were obscene in nature.
U.S. District Judge Sim Lake set sentencing for Dec.
At that time, Richards faces up to seven years in federal prison on each count of conviction as well as possible $250,000 fine.
Richards also pleaded guilty to three charges in state court stemming from the same conduct and was sentenced to ten years in prison.
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals or PETA defines the “crush” fetish as a cruel and illegal genre of pornography in which women are videotaped or photographed mutilating small animals for the sexual gratification of viewers.
In crush fetish materials, women are depicted, usually barefoot or in high heels, stepping on (or crushing), torturing and killing different species of animals, ranging from crawfish, crabs and insects to rodents, rabbits, kittens, puppies, cats, dogs and other mammals, PETA officials state.
Under federal law it is illegal to depict – via photograph, motion-picture film, video, digital recording or electronic image – actual conduct in which one or more living non-human mammals, birds, reptiles or amphibians is intentionally crushed, burned, drowned, suffocated, impaled or otherwise subjected to serious bodily injury, and is obscene.
This is the first known case to be indicted in federal court since the statute was amended in 2010.
These are the facts surround this case, according to the evidence:
- Richards has admitted to creating and distributing videos that involve puppies, chickens and kittens being tortured and killed. The videos are titled “puppy1,” “puppy 2,” “whitechick1,” “whitechick2,” “whitechick3,” “blackluvsample,” “adammeetseve” and “adammeetseve2” and were created at varying times between February 2010 and August 2012.
- In the “puppy2” video, which is more than 13 minutes in length, Richards is seen torturing and killing a blue Pit Bull-mix puppy in a kitchen.
- The defenseless dog’s mouth is closed with duct tape and he struggles as Richards strikes the dog numerous times with a meat cleaver.
- In the video, Richards chops off one of the puppy’s paws, then hacks at his head and neck. Richards is later seen severing the dog’s head and urinating on its body.
- In another video, described in court today, Richards steps on a cat’s eye with heel of her shoe.
- Previous court records also indicated that during the videos, Richards is often scantily clad and wearing a Mardi Gras-type mask.
- As she tortured the animals, she engaged in sexually charged dialogue meant to arouse the viewer, officials said.
Authorities were alerted to the videos following an inquiry from PETA.
Richards was originally arrested on state charges on Aug. 15, 2012. A federal grand jury returned an indictment Nov. 28, 2012, and she was transferred to federal custody.
However, the crush video charges were later dismissed on what the court cited as constitutionality issues.
“In 2013, U.S. District Judge Sim Lake dismissed the five counts of video creation and distribution against Richards and Justice, citing the films as protected free speech under the First Amendment,” according to the Houston Chronicle.
But last year, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans reinstated the charges, noting that the First Amendment allows limited restrictions on some speech, including obscenity, and that the federal law passed constitutional muster because of the “secondary effects” of the videos, Chronicle reported.
The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans which subsequently overturned Lake’s decision of the District Court.
The defense then filed a petition for a writ of certiorari to the U.S. Supreme Court challenging the 5th Circuit’s ruling. The Supreme Court denied that petition and remanded the case back to the District Court for prosecution.
(May 2013 Report)