Two people in the U.S. alleged to have aided the production of online monkey torture videos have been charged with Conspiracy to Create and Distribute Animal Crushing Videos. The charges come on the heels of the imprisonment of several individuals involved in online monkey torture groups in the U.S., U.K., and Indonesia.
Drexel Venero has pleaded guilty and faces up to five years in prison. Based in the U.S., Venero was a member of several online groups that helped facilitate the creation and distribution of these gruesome videos, and reportedly received money from coconspirators and sent funds that would be used as payments to video operators in Indonesia.
Venero even sent out a “wish list” of torture requests, according to court documents, which included: hammering a monkey’s limbs until they were flat, smashing their genitalia, pulling their teeth, cutting off their eyelids, and using a c-clamp to crush their skull slowly.
The woman who has been charged is also alleged to have received payments from coconspirators, which were then forwarded to Indonesia, where somebody would make the videos. Online, she went by the alias “Sadistic Queen,” according to court documents.
Court documents also show that law enforcement found more than 675 videos and 11,000 images of animal crushing on the woman’s seized electronic devices — while Venero claimed to have 860 of these videos.
Lady Freethinker and Action for Primates first exposed the sadistic world of online monkey torture in 2021 — including the online group “Million Tears.” The group was launched by a former teacher from Ohio who also collaborated with people in Indonesia who created the videos. Members could either pay for a “community monkey” and submit their requests for how they wanted the monkey to be tortured, or shell out more money for a “private monkey,” who would be tortured according to the requests of a single member.
Following investigations by Lady Freethinker and Action for Primates, the man who created Million Tears was sentenced to four and a half years in prison last year, and a BBC investigation and documentary called “The Monkey Haters” was released in 2023. These latest prosecutions are welcomed by both Lady Freethinker and Action for Primates.
The pain and suffering that these monkeys experience is unimaginable. We must stay vigilant to stop this horrifying abuse.
We will continue to investigate groups and individuals involved in monkey torture videos — and send any information to law enforcement or social media platforms.
