Two suspects were charged this week for their involvement with online groups dedicated to creating and distributing videos depicting extreme violence and sexual abuse against monkeys, according to federal prosecutors.
Nicholas T. Dryden, of Ohio, and Giancarlo Morelli, of New Jersey, were charged with conspiracy to create and distribute so-called “animal crush videos” and with distributing these videos.
Dryden also faces charges for creating animal crush videos, as well as for the production, distribution, and receipt of visual depictions of the sexual abuse of children, as a minor was paid to abuse the monkeys, officials stated.
Court documents reveal that in March and April 2023, the two co-defendants allegedly conspired to create and distribute videos depicting sadistic violence against baby, adolescent, and adult monkeys.
The conspirators reportedly funneled money through Dryden, who then paid a minor in Indonesia to commit the requested acts on camera.
The alleged videos included depictions of monkeys having their genitals burned, cut with scissors, sodomized with a wooden skewer, and sodomized with a spoon.
The conspiracy charge carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison. The charges related to the creation and distribution of animal crush videos each carry a maximum penalty of seven years in prison, while the charges of producing and distributing depictions of the sexual abuse of children each carry a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the FBI investigated the case.
Senior Trial Attorney Adam Cullman of the Environment and Natural Resources Division’s Environmental Crimes Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Tim Oakley for the Southern District of Ohio are prosecuting the case.