A Utah man has been jailed for a year for filming himself torturing and crushing guinea pigs and posting the videos on YouTube.
Samuel Webster, 20, of Farmington, Utah, pleaded guilty to animal torture via crushing and posting clips of his actions online in October 2021.
According to court documents, Webster purchased four male guinea pigs from a pet supply store in Farmington, Utah before purposefully subjecting the animals to serious injury.
He posted a total of 23 videos to YouTube, including some that were allegedly titled “Guinea Pig Torture and “Torture is Fun”, and commented on his own videos about wanting to kill and torture guinea pigs.
In one instance he hit a guinea pig and then sexually abused it, later posting the footage on YouTube and titling the video “Porn.”
Webster further admitted that the guinea pigs were obtained in interstate commerce for the purpose of creating and distributing YouTube videos around the world that he made of himself torturing and killing the animal.
He pleaded guilty to distribution of animal crush video and animal crushing in August.
Crushing, in this case, is defined as an animal being “intentionally crushed, burned, drowned, suffocated, impaled or otherwise subjected to serious bodily injury, and is obscene.”
On Tuesday Webster was sentenced to 12 months and one day behind bars with three years of supervised release. He was also ordered to pay a fine of $5,500.
“The animal torture committed by Mr. Webster was not only illegal but inhumane and cruel,” said US Attorney Trina A Higgins of the District of Utah.
“Torture of any kind to an animal is unacceptable. Our office will work with law enforcement to investigate and prosecute all crimes of this nature.”
“Animals deserve to be treated humanely which is why the Preventing Animal Cruelty and Torture (PACT) Act was passed in 2019,” said Special Agent in Charge Shohini Sinha of the Salt Lake City FBI.
“Evidence shows that intentional animal cruelty can also be a precursor to other violent crimes.
“We are grateful for the public’s assistance reporting this horrific abuse so law enforcement could put a stop to it and have Mr. Webster face the consequences."
The FBI Salt Lake Field Office investigated the case with valuable assistance by the Woods Cross Police Department. The United States Attorney’s Office of the District of Utah prosecuted the case.
