MT. PLEASANT MAN PLEADS GUILTY FOR PAYING PEOPLE TO TORTURE MONKEYS

A Mt. Pleasant man pleaded guilty in federal court yesterday to paying people overseas to torture monkeys and have the acts recorded on video.  The Trib reports that 44-year-old Joseph Buckland was charged with conspiracy to create and distribute animal crush videos in February.  Investigators said Buckland belonged to a group online that watched, discussed and distributed videos of monkeys being abused.. Buckland participated from March 2023 until May 2025, along with three co-conspirators from outside of Pennsylvania.  In addition to commissioning the work, federal prosecutors said that Buckland distributed a video depicting violent torture of a monkey on an online messaging app. He will be sentenced on October 19th.