Michael Macartney, 50, confessed to the BBC his role in an extreme monkey torture network.
A ringleader in a global monkey torture network exposed by the BBC has been charged by US federal prosecutors.
Michael Macartney, 50, who went by the alias "Torture King", was charged in Virginia with conspiracy to create and distribute animal-crushing videos.
Mr Macartney was one of three key distributors identified by the BBC Eye team during a year-long investigation into sadistic monkey torture groups.
Two women have also been charged in the UK following the investigation.
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Mr Macartney, a former motorcycle gang member who previously spent time in prison, ran several chat groups for monkey torture enthusiasts from around the world on the encrypted messaging app Telegram.
It isn't killed for food. These animals have to be killed to protect the environment. Humans have replaced apex species, and if we don't keep up population control, the deer overpopulate and destroy the whole ecology.
Why should you waste the meat?
And the way they're shot, they will literally be dead before they can even hear the bang of the weapon (bullets travel faster than sound.)
So where exactly is the "torture" in that, and can you not see that taking such an absolute position is absolutely indirectly devaluing the actual animal cruelty going on in industrial farms.