Monkey torturer arrested after posting his “favorite videos” on Facebook

Police have arrested a British member of a global monkey torture ring after he uploaded his “favourite videos” of the mistreatment of young macaques to Facebook.

Peter Stanley, 42, from Liverpool, was sentenced to one and a half years in prison on Wednesday after publishing three videos showing cynomolgus macaques captured in Indonesia being tortured for “entertainment”.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said the animals had been “brutally injured” after being sexually tortured and physically abused by their captors.

Stanley is one of three British citizens facing criminal prosecution for their involvement in the torture ring.

Liverpool Crown Court heard that Stanley posted the videos in a private Facebook group. The group, he claimed, required members to upload at least three films to prove they had no intention of reporting the group to the police or animal welfare authorities.

Screenshots of the page showed Stanley posting the videos and writing in the comments under one clip: “This is one of my favorites.”

An animal rights activist who had infiltrated the group alerted the police to the videos, who then found Stanley’s home address via his Facebook account.

Obscene Internet searches

Officials arrested Stanley on March 24 and, while searching his home, found 75 videos of monkey torture on his cellphone.

During the forensic examination of his devices, it emerged that Stanley had searched the Internet for terms such as “how to tell if a baby monkey is in distress” and “horse porn,” among others.

In police interviews, Stanley claimed that he became aware of these videos and joined the group to find out how bad they were.

He said he watched about 70 videos of monkey cruelty, but decided in October 2023 that it wasn’t for him and stopped.

Stanley pleaded guilty to three counts of publishing an obscene article at Liverpool Magistrates Court on August 20 and was sentenced to 20 months in prison on Wednesday.

Publish videos “for fun”

Thomas Quirk, senior prosecutor for Mersey-Cheshire CPS, said: “The videos posted by Peter Stanley on his Facebook page are truly horrific.

“The torture inflicted on these animals also included sexual torture and the case was very stressful for both the police and the public prosecutor.

“Why anyone would want to be involved in something like this is beyond comprehension. Peter Stanley apparently published videos of animals being brutally injured for fun.

“His actions were against the law and he must now face the consequences. The prosecution would like to thank the witnesses in this case and Merseyside Police for their help in bringing this horrific case to a successful conclusion.

“Behind each of these images were defenseless animals being abused. Peter Stanley probably thought he could get away with it. But he was wrong.”

British members of the torture ring, Holly Le Gresley (37) from Kidderminster and co-defendant Adriana Orme (55) from Upton upon Severn, have both pleaded guilty to uploading videos of tortured monkeys.

LeGresley admitted in May that he posted 132 videos and 22 images of abuse as a member of the online chat group “Torture Killing.”

Following a BBC investigation, she was charged by West Mercia Police.

A joint investigation by several police forces in the UK and abroad last year resulted in at least 20 people being investigated worldwide.

LeGresley also admitted to encouraging or aiding in the commission of a crime by transferring money to a PayPal account.

Orme pleaded guilty in August to publishing an obscene article between April 14 and June 16, 2022, by uploading an image and 26 videos of monkey torture.

She also encouraged or assisted the infliction of unnecessary suffering by making a payment of £10 to a PayPal account on 26 April 2022.

The couple will be sentenced at Worcester Crown Court on October 25.