Man, woman charged with roles in posting monkey abuse videos
June 11 (UPI) -- A Tennessee woman and a North Carolina man have been indicted on federal charges that they were involved with online groups that created and distributed videos online depicting extreme violence and sexual abuse against monkeys.
In the Southern District of Ohio, a grand jury indictment, which was unsealed Wednesday, charges Katrina Favret of Tennessee and Robert Craig of North Carolina, the U.S. Department of Justice said. In October, Ronald Bedra, of Ohio, was sentenced to 54 months in prison for conspiracy of the postings.
Craig is charged with creating and distributing the videos and Favret with conspiracy.
They conspired to produce "animal crush videos," according to the indictment.
The videos depict sadistic violence against juvenile and adult monkeys, prosecutors said. They included monkeys sodomized with a heated screwdriver and a monkey's genitals cut with scissors.
They allegedly used encrypted chat applications to direct money to individuals in Indonesia willing to commit the requested acts of torture on camera.
"We will punish participants of sadistic conspiracies like this one no matter their role in the crime," said U.S. Attorney Kenneth L. Parker of the Southern District of Ohio said after Bedra was sentenced. "As this case shows, even if you do not commit the torture first-hand, you will be held accountable for promoting this obscene animal abuse."
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Office of Law Enforcement and the FBI were involved in the investigation.
In 2019, President Donald Trump signed a bipartisan bill into law that makes animal cruelty a federal crime. The Preventing Animal Cruelty and Torture Act, which was unanimously passed in the House and Senate, revises and expands earlier legislation against making and distributing videos of animal cruelty.
In 2010, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned a Virginia man's conviction under a federal law banning videos of animal cruelty, saying they were protected speech. The 8-1 ruling, with Justice Samuel Alito dissenting, said the government lacked the power to ban expressions of animal cruelty when that is done in videotapes and other commercial media. The opinion said wasn't curbing government's power to punish acts of animal cruelty, but the portrayals of such acts.
Depictions of animal torture should be reported to authorities.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Non-partisan report: Trump tax cuts would benefit wealthy at expense of poor
June 12 (UPI) -- The House-passed budget reconciliation bill promoted by the Trump administration would benefit higher earners at the expense of lower-income Americans, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office reported Thursday. The CBO's findings said between 2026 and 2034, after-tax federal benefits "would decrease for households toward the bottom of the income distribution, whereas resources would increase for households in the middle and top of the income distribution," the report said. "If you are a hardworking American that is struggling to take care of your family, you are going to love this legislation," Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson said during an interview on Fox News last week. But the CBO report indicates that the top 10% of earners would receive the highest tax cuts. The CBO analysis shows that households earning up to $107,000 yearly will see an average tax cut of $1,200 annually through 2034. People making up to $138,000 annually will see a $1,750 tax cut; those earning up to $178,000 will see a $2,400 yearly benefit; those bringing in $242,000 will see a $3,650 benefit; and households earning up to $682,000 a year can expect an annual $13,500 tax benefit. A recent analysis by the Joint Taxation Committee reflected the results of the CBO report and also suggested that lower income Americans would benefit less from the legislation than higher earners. The budget bill, which has seen staunch opposition from Democrats, faith leaders and social service advocates, faces a tough road in the Senate, where even some members of the GOP have expressed concern about the depth of the cuts, especially to Medicaid services and SNAP benefits, which would fall most squarely on the most vulnerable Americans. Academics and scientists have also been critical of proposed reductions in research funding in the budget bill while adding trillions of dollars to the national debt.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Ex-CIA analyst gets three years in prison for sharing top secret information
June 12 (UPI) -- A former CIA analyst has been sentenced to more than three years in prison for obtaining and sending top secret Defense Department information to unauthorized recipients who then posted it on social media, the Justice Department announced Thursday. Asif William Rahman, 34, of Vienna, had been a CIA employee since 2016 with a top secret security clearance and had access to sensitive information until his termination, a release from the Justice Department said. "For months, this defendant betrayed the American people and the oaths he took upon entering his office by leaking some of our nation's most closely held secrets," John Eisenberg, assistant attorney general for national security, said. "As this case demonstrates, the Department of Justice will continue to protect our nation by vigorously investigating and prosecuting leakers who compromise our nation's security." Court documents show that Rahman accessed and printed two top secret documents about a foreign ally and its plans against a foreign adversary. "Rahman removed the documents, photographed them, and transmitted them to individuals he knew were not entitled to receive them," the Justice Department release said. "By Oct. 18, 2024, the documents appeared publicly on multiple social media platforms, complete with the classification markings." Court records show Rahman continued to access and share top secret information with unauthorized recipients until early November 2024. He then began a "deletion campaign" of work saved on his top secret workstation. Rahman was indicted by a grand jury on Nov. 7, 2024, and was arrested by FBI agents while arriving at work five days later. He pleaded guilty to two counts of willful retention and transmission of classified information related to national defense. He has remained in custody since his arrest.
UPI
an hour ago
- UPI
Non-partisan report: Trump tax cuts would benefit wealthy at expense of poor
According to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office report released Thursday, the budget reconciliation bill passed in the U.S. House (pictured 2023) and promoted by the Trump administration would benefit higher earners at the expense of lower-income Americans. File Photo by Pat Benic/UPI | License Photo June 12 (UPI) -- The House-passed budget reconciliation bill promoted by the Trump administration would benefit higher earners at the expense of lower-income Americans, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office reported Thursday. The CBO's findings said between 2026 and 2034, after-tax federal benefits "would decrease for households toward the bottom of the income distribution, whereas resources would increase for households in the middle and top of the income distribution," the report said. "If you are a hardworking American that is struggling to take care of your family, you are going to love this legislation," Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson said during an interview on Fox News last week. But the CBO report indicates that the top 10% of earners would receive the highest tax cuts. The CBO analysis shows that households earning up to $107,000 yearly will see an average tax cut of $1,200 annually through 2034. People making up to $138,000 annually will see a $1,750 tax cut; those earning up to $178,000 will see a $2,400 yearly benefit; those bringing in $242,000 will see a $3,650 benefit; and households earning up to $682,000 a year can expect an annual $13,500 tax benefit. A recent analysis by the Joint Taxation Committee reflected the results of the CBO report and also suggested that lower income Americans would benefit less from the legislation than higher earners. The budget bill, which has seen staunch opposition from Democrats, faith leaders and social service advocates, faces a tough road in the Senate, where even some members of the GOP have expressed concern about the depth of the cuts, especially to Medicaid services and SNAP benefits, which would fall most squarely on the most vulnerable Americans. Academics and scientists have also been critical of proposed reductions in research funding in the budget bill while adding trillions of dollars to the national debt.
