Central Ohio man sentenced to federal prison for creating monkey torture videos

A Licking County man was sentenced to 54 months in federal prison last week for his role in the creation and distribution of videos depicting “extreme acts of violence” against monkeys.

According to a U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) press release, Ronald Bedra of Etna, Ohio, conspired with others to create and distribute videos that featured the torture of adult and baby monkeys. He originally pleaded guilty in April.

The release says Bedra and his co-conspirators paid individuals in Indonesia to create the videos and communicated with them via encrypted chats. Bedra also mailed a thumb drive containing dozens of videos to one of his co-conspirators in Wisconsin.

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The DOJ release details the acts committed against the animals in the video, which 614Now has chosen not to print.

“We will punish participants of sadistic conspiracies like this one no matter their role in the crime,” said U.S. Attorney Kenneth L. Parker for the Southern District of Ohio, said in the press release. “As this case shows, even if you do not commit the torture firsthand, you will be held accountable for promoting this obscene animal abuse.”

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