BBC and Nat Geo zoologist and crocodile expert sentenced after pleading guilty to bestiality

WARNING: This story contains graphic details of animal abuse and cruelty.

The famed zoologist, who has won praise over the years for his work on several wildlife programs, has been sentenced to 10 years and 5 months in prison for the rape, torture and killing of numerous dogs, reports Sky News.

According to local media, he has also been banned for life from buying or keeping animals on his property and will not be eligible for parole for the next six years, the Australian court said. ABCHis sentence was backdated to his arrest in April 2022, when police also found 15 files containing child abuse material.

Thursday’s ruling comes after Britton pleaded guilty in the Northern Territory Supreme Court in September 2023 to 56 charges of bestiality and animal cruelty.

Chief Justice Michael Grant excused court staff during his sentencing address because of the details of Britton’s offences, saying they could have caused “nervous shock or other adverse psychological reactions”.

“While I am loathe to do so, given the gross depravity and perversity of your actions,” Grant told Britton in court, “it is necessary, in order to convict you, to provide you with some general, representative details and descriptions of the criminal conduct.”

Those crimes, as detailed in court, were described by Grant as “grotesque” and “unspeakable.” They included the torture and sexual exploitation of 42 dogs, and the deaths of 39 dogs in a shipping container he called his “torture chamber” on his property. He reportedly filmed many of his crimes there.

The crimes in question occurred over an 18-month period between 2020 and 2022, and specifically involved dogs Britton had obtained through the Australian online marketplace Gumtree. Later evidence suggested that these were not all of his crimes.

Grant went on to explain that Britton specifically targeted people who posted that they had to reluctantly part with beloved pets due to work or travel commitments. He promised to give people’s pets a “good home.”

“He often built a rapport with the dog owners when negotiating custody of their animals,” prosecutor Marty Aust said in September, according to Sky News. Britton was described in court at the time as having a “sadistic sexual interest” in dogs.

In his sentencing, Judge Grant said: “You took photographs of the dogs before torturing and killing them. You then sent the photographs to their former owners, spreading false stories that the dogs were thriving in their new environment.”

At the same time, Britton was sharing his body count and uploading videos of his killings to the messenger service Telegram under the pseudonyms “Monster” and “Cerberus,” according to ABC. Grant said it was clear that Britton “derived perverse pleasure and excitement from the suffering of these animals.”

In one chat room, documents are viewed per court The BBCBritton admitted, “I was sadistic towards animals as a child, but I suppressed it. In the last few years I’ve let it go and now I can’t stop. I don’t want to. :)” He admitted to abusing horses as early as the age of 13.

He allegedly abused his own pets and acquired pets over the past decade. In another chat, he wrote: “My own dogs are family and I have boundaries. I only abuse other dogs badly… I have no emotional connection with them, they are just toys.”

Britton expressed remorse in a letter he wrote while in prison, read in court by his lawyer. In it, he took “full responsibility” for his “degrading” crimes, writing: “I deeply regret the pain and trauma I have caused innocent families and consequently my family, friends and members of the community who have been affected by this.”

“I have disappointed you all. I am truly sorry,” his letter continued. “I now acknowledge that I have been battling a rare paraphilic disorder for much of my life. And that shame and fear has kept me from seeking the proper help I needed.”

He asked his family to be given space to “heal,” stressing, “They were not aware of it and were not involved in any way.” Britton himself vowed to undergo “long-term treatment.”

Judge Grant, however, was not moved by the letter, nor did he believe Britton showed genuine remorse, according to ABC. Instead, he accepted the prosecution’s perceived diagnosis of zoosadism.

Zoosadism is defined by the American Psychological Association as “a paraphilia (abnormal sexual desire) in which sexual arousal and gratification are obtained from torturing a nonhuman animal. This may occur during direct sexual contact with the animal, or the person may masturbate afterwards, using memories of the event as masturbatory fantasies.”

“Your conduct on each of those occasions involved a degree of depravity and reprehensibility which is completely beyond any normal human understanding and comprehension,” Judge Grant said in his sentencing statement. “I also have no doubt that you would have continued with that conduct had you not been arrested by the police.”

Britton may be eligible for parole in April 2028, having already served his sentence.