Feds Move in on Michigan Man Who Made Graphic Dog Torture Videos

Federal authorities have indicted a Michigan man accused of making and distributing multiple videos depicting the sexual abuse and torture of a dog.

Lucas VanWoert faces charges of creating and distributing 'animal crush videos.' Animal crush videos are defined as pictures or videos in which animals are tortured or subjected to bodily injury and are also obscene.

Tipped Off by Australian Authorities

US authorities were tipped off to VanWoert's videos by authorities in Australia who had arrested a 51-year-old man on charges of bestiality, animal cruelty, and child exploitation. A search of that man's home and devices revealed two accounts with an online platform where he was known as a "high-level" producer of videos that depicted animal cruelty.

The search led to the 25-year-old Michigan man who operated under the name Graves. Graves was then identified as VanWoert who was working as a truck driver in Michigan.

Authorities Find Hundreds of Graphic Images

The two men are said to have exchanged more than 700 files that depicted some sort of animal abuse.

All of the videos were said to have been recorded in West Michigan where VanWoert lived in 2020. Many of the videos discovered were from inside the sleeper area of semi trucks used by VanWoert. He has since moved to Ohio.

Some of the videos showed a dog with its mouth tied shut lying next to VanWoert. The indictment indicates that the dog had been sexually abused and tortured in an obscene and graphic manner.

WJBK-TV in Detroit shared some details of the graphic acts depicted in the videos. Discretion is advised.

VanWoert was arrested at his Ohio home late last month and could face up to 12 years in federal prison.

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