A zoologist pleads guilty to sharing material of sexual abuse of minors and torturing and killing dozens of dogs

Australian zoologist Adam Corden Britton has pleaded guilty to torturing and killing dozens of dogs, as well as accessing and sharing material of sexual abuse of minors, as confirmed on Tuesday by judicial sources.

Britton appeared before the Northern Territory Supreme Court last Monday, where he was charged with a total of 56 counts of abuse, including 37 counts of animal cruelty causing serious harm or death, 10 counts of rape or attempted dog rape and 4 counts of possession or transmission of child abuse material, local media NT News reports.

A search of the zoologist's laptop uncovered 15 files of child abuse material he had obtained from the internet, including content involving young children being subjected to “horrific acts”.

“The facts contain material depicting acts that can only be described as grotesque perversity and cruelty, which are both distressing and which, in my assessment, have the potential to cause nervous shock,” said Chief Justice Michael Grant. , in statements collected by the News.com.au portal.

Sadistic sexual interest in animals

For his part, Crown prosecutor Marty Aust revealed in court that Britton had a sadistic sexual interest in animals, particularly dogs, dating back to at least 2014, when he began engaging in sexual activities with his Swiss shepherd dogs, Ursa and Bolt.

Between November 17, 2020 and April 22, 2022, Britton obtained 42 dogs of various breeds and ages through an internet portal, of which he “tortured and sexually exploited for his pleasure, and finally killed” 39. of them, as stated in the report. So that there would be no suspicion of his actions, the academic previously sent photos to the owners who, for reasons of travel or work, had sold him their pets, assuring them that the animals were fine.

The well-known crocodile expert was also in an encrypted Telegram group – under different pseudonyms – where he shared these images with different people who also had inclinations towards abuse and sexual activities with animals.

During the investigation, police found Britton had computers, phones, cameras, external hard drives, weapons and sex toys inside his rural property in Darwin, where the remains of injured animals, decomposing puppy carcasses and dog heads were also found. .

The accused is currently in preventive detention and will appear again before the Supreme Court of the Northern Territory in Darwin, where his sentence will be deliberated in a phase that could last several days, the judicial source said.