Des Moines lawyer charged with distributing videos of monkey torture and mutilation

Philip Colt Moss was indicted in federal court in Ohio

A Des Moines attorney was indicted in federal court in Ohio on Friday for his involvement in online groups that create and distribute videos depicting extreme violence and sexual abuse of monkeys.

According to court documents, Philip Colt Moss was charged with conspiracy to create and distribute so-called “Animal Crush Videos” and with distributing Animal Crush Videos.

In March and April 2023, Moss is accused of working with two other men, Nicholas Dryden and Giancarlo Morelli, who were not charged in Iowa, to create and distribute videos depicting sadistic acts of violence against baby, adolescent, and adult monkeys. Dryden and Morelli have been previously charged and are awaiting trial in Ohio.

According to court documents, videos created as part of the conspiracy also included depictions of monkeys having their genitals burned, mutilated and otherwise cruelly mistreated.

In a motion for bail, prosecutors say Moss was arrested on August 8 in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa. Prosecutors presented a 28-page indictment. These monkey videos are sold to private groups that operate similarly to child pornography distribution groups and have a vetting process for admitting viewers.

According to the indictment, Moss was “aggrandized” in the crime because he was an “administrator.” Over the course of 41 days, Moss sent 18 payments to Dryden totaling $1,447 for the Animal Crush videos.

Prosecutors also have cables between Moss and Dryden in which Moss discusses traveling with Dryden to produce the videos and tells Dryden he can take him to Indonesia and other international destinations without a passport because he has “connections,” according to the indictment.

The document shows that Moss was not a lawyer at the time of his arrest, but was working for his father's company. The prosecution doubts his statements because Moss had advertised his legal services on a website.

His case has been transferred to a federal court in Ohio, according to documents filed in the Southern District of Iowa.

If convicted, Moss faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison for the conspiracy charge and a maximum of seven years for the charge related to the creation and distribution of Animal Crush videos.

The prosecution is being represented by Lead Trial Attorney Adam Cullman of the Environmental Crimes Section of the Environment and Natural Resources Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney Tim Oakley for the Southern District of Ohio.

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