Videographer gets 50 years in animal crush videos

Ashley Nichole Richards, 23, was sentenced to 10 years in prison after she pleaded guilty to three counts of animal cruelty. Brent Wayne Justice, 52, of Houston, is also charged with animal cruelty for his participation in the case. less Ashley Nichole Richards, 23, was sentenced to 10 years in prison after she pleaded guilty to three counts of animal cruelty. Brent Wayne Justice, 52, of Houston, is also charged with animal cruelty for his ... more Photo: Houston Police Department Photo: Houston Police Department Image 1 of / 51 Caption Close Videographer gets 50 years in animal crush videos 1 / 51 Back to Gallery

A Houston man has been sentenced to 50 years in prison for cruelty to animals, for his role in filming animal crush videos.

Brent Justice, 54, was convicted and sentenced Monday for cruelty to non-livestock animals. He and Ashley Richards, 25, were arrested in August 2012 after a complaint from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, known as PETA.

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Investigators said Justice filmed a scantily clad Richards, sometimes masked, stabbing animals - including a puppy, a kitten and a chicken - as well as chopping off their limbs and urinating on them while making sexual comments to the camera.

Crush videos are part of a fetish culture in which small animals, like puppies and kittens, are tortured or killed for the sexual gratification of observers. Videos of the acts, usually shown online, have been marketed as rituals or sacrifices.

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Richards was convicted in 2014 on state charges and sentenced to 10 years in prison. Last year, she pleaded guilty in federal court to four counts of creating animal crush videos and one film distribution charge under the Animal Crush Video Prohibition Act of 2010.

In one of the videos seized by authorities, Richards punctured a cat's eye with a shoe heel. In other videos, she used a meat cleaver and other knives to maim animals.

The videos were produced in Houston from 2010 to 2012.