Utah Man Sentenced to 1 Year for Guinea Pig Torture Videos
Samuel Webster pleaded guilty to animal crushing in connection to the stomach-churning abuse.
Yui Mok - PA Images via Getty
Warning: This article contains disturbing, graphic content
A Utah man has been sentenced to a year in prison after admitting he made and posted “animal crushing” videos that contained horrendous acts of torture on guinea pigs.
“Killing and torture is my favorite activity,” Samuel Webster, 20, commented on one of the vile videos he uploaded to YouTube in October 2021.
According to federal prosecutors, the nauseating footage showed Webster breaking a guinea pig’s legs, molesting it with his finger and an Allen wrench, using pliers to remove an eye and a piece of tongue, ripping out its fur, eviscerating it, and slitting its throat.
The videos were accompanied but mocking titles and comments that threatened appalled viewers and boasted of his bloodlust.
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“Torture is like a drug to me,” he wrote, according to the 2022 indictment. “It’s very addicting. Hearing the scream of pain is so satisfying.”
In a filing opposing bail for Webster, authorities said Discord had banned him for posting animal cruelty content and pornography, and Facebook also disabled his account. Investigators said his computer usernames reference child rape, that they found images of human torture on his cellphone, and that he used Omegle, which is popular with predators.
“His charges involve gruesome acts of violence that demonstrate cold-hearted cruelty. This crime involved an intentional act that involved days of abuse and a meticulous creation of dozens of violent videos clips,” prosecutors wrote.
Webster pleaded guilty in August and a psychosexual examination was ordered before his sentencing. His attorney could not be reached for comment but in a related county case, the defendant claimed he “suffers from depression, anxiety, and diminished cognitive capacity.”
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