Online group celebrated monkey-torture in 'animal crush' videos, feds say
(File photo) David Christopher Noble, 48, is charged with conspiring to engage in animal crushing and creating and distributing animal crush videos, (Photo by JEAN-FRANCOIS MONIER/AFP via Getty Images)
PRINEVILLE, Ore. - A former U.S. Air Force officer is facing multiple federal charges for reportedly running an online "animal crush" community that celebrated the torture, sexual mutilation and killing of monkeys.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Oregon, David Christopher Noble, 48, is charged with conspiring to engage in animal crushing and creating and distributing animal crush videos, creating animal crush videos and illegally possessing a firearm as a dishonorably discharged person.
"As a group administrator, Noble paid for the creation of and celebrated videos depicting the torture, sexually sadistic mutilation, and murder of adult and juvenile monkeys," the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a news release. "Noble further managed the group’s membership and repeatedly changed the group’s name to evade detection by law enforcement."
(file photo) "Crush videos″ are films for viewers who get sexually aroused by watching women smash small animals. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
According to the Associated Press, "crush videos″ are films for viewers who get sexually aroused by watching women smash small animals. The Animal Crush Video Prohibition Act of 2010 makes it a crime punishable by up to seven years in federal prison.
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Noble, who moved from Prineville, Oregon, to Henderson, Nevada, in January after investigators searched his home, was dismissed from the Air Force in 2006 and served six months in military custody for fraud and an unprofessional relationship, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
Investigators said they found multiple firearms at Noble’s Oregon home that he wasn’t legally allowed to possess, including a Colt M4 carbine assault rifle. Illegally possessing a firearm as a dishonorably discharged person is punishable by up to 15 years in federal prison.
Noble was arrested Tuesday in Nevada and is being held there pending his transfer to Oregon.