Adam Britton, a leading zoologist who has worked on BBC and National Geographic productions, pleaded guilty to 56 charges relating to bestiality and animal cruelty.

He also admitted to four counts of accessing child abuse material.

The Northern Territory (NT) Supreme Court heard the 53-year-old filmed himself torturing the animals until almost all died, and then shared the videos online under pseudonyms.

His abuse went unnoticed for years, until a clue was found in one of his videos. Britton was arrested in April 2022 after a search of his rural Darwin property, which also uncovered child abuse material on his laptop.

  • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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    4 months ago

    He also admitted to four counts of accessing child abuse material.

    This seems like it should have also been in the headline.

    • njm1314@lemmy.world
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      4 months ago

      It’s weird how often headlines bury that lede. Happened a lot with that Dutch volleyball player too. Headlines would never call him a child rapist. That’s what he did yet never in the headline.

      • JohnEdwa@sopuli.xyz
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        4 months ago

        On a technicality, as in the end he wasn’t convicted of that under Dutch law because rape (back then) required violence. Any newspaper directly calling him a child rapist opens themselves up to a possible lawsuit.

        The sentence was adjusted in line with Dutch law, and the charge of rape was substituted for one referring to ontucht (“sexual acts that violate social-ethical norms”).[21][22] After serving 13 months of his original four year sentence, he was released from prison.[17] Until 1 July 2024, Dutch law only recognised rape if force was involved.[23]

    • Nuerion@lemmy.world
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      4 months ago

      i mean sure looking up that shit is bad but fucking dogs to death is worse i think

      • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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        4 months ago

        I didn’t say don’t put the dog part in the headline, I said put both in the headline. “He’s also a pedophile” shouldn’t be something that people need to keep reading to find out about.

        • Zozano@lemy.lol
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          4 months ago

          Being a paedo is inconsequential in the grand scheme of things. CSAM is illegal, rightfully so, but the CSAM videos weren’t produced by him.

          The amount of suffering produced directly by Britton vastly outweighs the suffering he caused by potentially redistributing the CSAM videos.

          • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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            4 months ago

            Most parents would disagree with you about people who sexually abuse children being inconsequential.

            • Zozano@lemy.lol
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              4 months ago

              Within the context of what I’m saying, Britton didn’t film the CSAM videos. Making CSAM and possessing it are very different in terms of suffering produced.

              Sharing CSAM potentially encourages the creation of more, and further objectifies the victims without consent which is obviously abhorrent.

              But however abhorrent this is, it is inconsequential compared to the suffering Britton inflicted directly.

              Even still, I will reiterate, the direct experience of those poor dogs is leagues more horrific than your average child molestation. If you disagree, you evidently don’t know exactly how fucked up Britton was and/or have a species bias.

        • kandoh@reddthat.com
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          4 months ago

          Why? The term itself has become almost totally devalued after a decade of conservatives labeling everyone with it. When I see the word now I just think it identifies the information as clickbait or propaganda.

      • catloaf@lemm.ee
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        4 months ago

        I don’t think he actually fucked the dogs to death. I think they died of actual sadistic torture.

        Which isn’t any better, but somehow the former just feels worse to me.

        • CanadaPlus@lemmy.sdf.org
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          4 months ago

          Death by anal perforation or whatever would be a shit way to die, but I think there’s some that are even worse.

    • Floey@lemm.ee
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      4 months ago

      Unless he paid for it I don’t see how the two things are remotely equivalent. I’d take someone having thousands of vile images on their computer over someone who abused a child or animal even once.