Iowa man charged with conspiracy to create and distribute videos

CINCINNATI — Philip Colt Moss of Iowa has been charged with conspiracy to create and distribute videos depicting the torture and mutilation of monkeys in so-called “Animal Crush Videos.”

The New York Times reported that he was arrested on Thursday, August 8, and arraigned in U.S. District Court in Cincinnati.

According to the U.S. Department of Justice's Office of Public Affairs, his indictment was unsealed on Friday.

According to court documents, in March and April 2023, Moss and two other men planned to film videos of “sadistic violence” against monkeys of various ages, including babies. They then planned to distribute the videos.

The videos reportedly included footage of burning and cutting of genitals, as well as sodomy using various objects.

The other two men, Nicholas T. Dryden of Ohio and Giancarlo Morelli of New Jersey, who were also charged, were also involved in the online groups that created and distributed the content.

The money is said to have been channeled through Dryden, who sent money to a child in Indonesia to perform certain actions in front of the camera.

According to the New York Times, Moss sent Dryden $1,447 for the videos and both discussed going to Indonesia to shoot the videos themselves.

All three face charges of conspiracy, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison, and charges of creating and distributing Animal Crush videos, which carries a maximum sentence of seven years in prison.

Dryden is also accused of distributing and maintaining a graphic depiction of child sexual abuse because a minor was paid to abuse the monkeys.

The US Fish and Wildlife Service and the FBI investigated the case.