SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, Aug. 7, 2023 (Gephardt Daily) — A Davis County man pleaded guilty Monday to federal charges of animal torture for allegedly posting multiple videos showing him crushing and seriously injuring guinea pigs in October 2021.
Samuel J. Webster, 20, is accused of purchasing as many as five guinea pigs from pet stores and then filming himself torturing the animals “by hitting, sexually coercing, and penetrating the guinea pig, and then posting it on YouTube,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office for Utah stated in a news release.
Webster posted at least 17 videos on his YouTube channel before they were flagged as inappropriate and eventually removed, according to court documents.
“Before the videos were removed from YouTube, multiple viewers saved the videos, captured screenshots, and reposted them on [Reddit],” according to a probable cause statement filed in 2nd District Court.
Reddit users created a forum in an attempt to identify the man in the videos and provided the information they obtained to investigators, who later tracked Webster to a residence in Woods Cross, police said.
Police served a warrant at Webster’s residence and “found the shed where he filmed the torture videos and additional corroborating evidence,” the affidavit states.
Webster later told police the guinea pigs were obtained for the purpose of creating and distributing YouTube videos of him torturing and killing the animals. He pleaded guilty to distribution of animal crush video and animal crushing, the release states.
Webster is scheduled to be sentenced Dec. 11 at the Orrin G. Hatch United States District Courthouse in downtown Salt Lake City.
The FBI Salt Lake Field Office is investigating the case.
Anyone aware of animal cruelty is asked to report it to law enforcement, call 800-CALL-FBI or leave a tip at tips.fbi.gov.
