WOODS CROSS, Utah — An 18-year-old from Utah has been charged in federal court for posting videos of guinea pigs being tortured, authorities say.
Samuel J. Webster of Woods Cross is charged with 23 felony counts related to "animal crush" videos, which the U.S. Attorney's Office defined as filming "one or more living non-human mammals, birds, reptiles, or amphibians [being] intentionally crushed, burned, drowned, suffocated, impaled or otherwise subjected to serious bodily injury, and is obscene."
Webster bought four guinea pigs from local pet stores in October and then posted 23 videos on YouTube showing himself torturing the animals, according to the charges.
Webster allegedly gave the videos titles such as “Guinea Pig Torture” and “Torture is Fun,” and commented on his own videos about wanting to kill and torture guinea pigs.
He was indicted on the charges by a federal grand jury.
In October, FOX 13 News reported on a case where Reddit users, including a teenager in Norway, banded together to find a man who posted videos of guinea pigs being tortured. This led to the arrest of an 18-year-old Davis County resident, but his name was not released at the time.
