A husband and wife from the US are accused of torturing dogs following an international investigation into a disgraced crocodile expert who raped and mutilated pets on camera in Australia.
Lucas Russell VanWoert, 25, and his wife Heather Marie VanWoert, 32, were arrested following a raid of their Ohio home in September 2022 and hit with a range of charges relating to animal cruelty.
Animal cruelty
Their arrests came after a joint investigation by US and Australian authorities to identify those responsible for creating a disturbing video called ‘1Bitch9Pups’, which circulated on Telegram and abuse websites six months earlier, in March 2022.
The film was made by British-Australian zoologist and academic, Adam Britton, who was arrested in Darwin a month later and charged with almost 60 offences relating to bestiality, animal cruelty, and the possession of child exploitation material.
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He recently pleaded guilty to all charges in Darwin’s Supreme Court on September 25 and is awaiting sentence.
The VanWoert’s weren’t involved in the production of Britton’s video, according to documents filed in the US District Court, but Britton and Mr VanWoert exchanged 705 photos and videos of animal abuse with one another from about November 2020.
Part of the reason authorities were able to identify him was because his face and a distinctive sun-shaped tattoo on his arm were visible in some of the footage.
He was not arrested during the raid at his property, but voluntarily confessed to engaging in sex acts, beating, and strangling a dog at his former workplace in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and placing its body in a dumpster.
Sex acts
He was charged with creating ‘crushing’ videos, which relates to animals being stomped on or impaled to satisfy a sexual fetish, and distributing obscene material.
Along with images and footage of animal abuse, detectives also found child exploitation videos on his electronic devices.
Mr VanWoert was not released on bail and faces 12 years behind bars.In November 2022, his wife Mrs VanWoert was arrested and hit with 12 charges relating to animal torture.
On Sunday, Daily Mail Australia revealed that Jaden Young Korse, age 24 from Kentucky, edited Britton’s depraved videos before they went online.
As with Mr VanWoert, Britton met Korse in an online community dedicated to people who get sexual gratification from animal abuse, known as zoosadists.
They developed a friendship on Telegram, Britton’s pseudonym was ‘Monster’ and Korse called himself ‘Gorvaged’, and bonded over their shared obsession with animal cruelty.
