A western Pennsylvania man admitted in federal court Wednesday he shelled out hundreds of dollars to an Indonesian videographer to create videos of monkeys being tortured and sexually abused.
Joseph Garrett Buckland, of Mount Pleasant, pleaded guilty to a conspiracy count of creating and distributing animal crush videos between March 2023 and May 2025.
“Animal crush” is a term that refers to torture or abuse of animals, which is often recorded and distributed for sexual gratification purposes.
Buckland was part of an underground conspiracy in which he collected payments from co-conspirators then forwarded the money, as well as his own, to a videographer in Indonesia, federal investigators said.
Buckland then distributed the videos through Telegram group chats for others to view.
On Feb. 15, 2025, Buckland sent a video to a Telegram group chat showing someone torturing a monkey’s genitalia. The next day, he sent another video of a monkey being sexually abused with a heated rod. Two days after that, he sent a final video of a monkey’s genitals being smashed by a hammer, prosecutors said.
“Intentionally inflicting harm and torture on innocent animals not only feeds a broader market of criminal depravity, it also often is linked to, or leads to, additional dangerous and violent conduct that further erodes society and public safety,” said Troy Rivetti, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania.
“With our law enforcement partners, we will continue to investigate and prosecute all crimes involving violations of federal law relating to horrific acts of cruelty to animals.”
Buckland is scheduled to be sentenced Oct. 29. He could face up to five years in prison, according to the Department of Justice.
