JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — ***WARNING: The following content is graphic and could be offensive to some readers***
A Jacksonville woman faces federal charges of conspiring to produce and distribute "animal crush" videos, according to a news release from the U.S. Department of Justice.
Federal criminal law defines animal crushing as actual conduct in which a living non-human mammal, bird, reptile, or amphibian is purposely crushed, burned, drowned, suffocated, impaled, or any other serious bodily harm, according to the DOJ.
On Oct. 31, investigators executed a federal search warrant at 35-year-old Nicole Devilbiss' home on Old Kings Road South in Jacksonville, according to a criminal complaint filed with the United States District Court.
Investigators said Devilbiss admitted to being in multiple group chats "dedicated to the abuse and torture of monkeys," according to the criminal complaint.
Devilbiss told investigators a group administrator called "Mister Ape," would collect payments from group members to pay for the production of monkey torture videos, which cost ranged from $100 to $230 per video. According to court documents, Devilbiss said she commented on videos depicting animal crush videos and shared "dozens" of videos showing monkeys being tortured.
Investigators said Devilbiss stated her initial intentions of joining the group were to "help stop the torture of monkeys," but began to find "relief from viewing monkey torture videos," the criminal complaint states.
Devilbiss assumed the role of administrator for the group chat from June 23, 2022, through at least May 23, 2023, according to the criminal complaint.
Messages obtained by investigators showed multiple times in which Devilbiss referred to the tortured monkeys as "rats."
One of Devilbiss' messages sent on August 2, 2022, writes:
"If you're gonna nab an adult rat then get the one with a baby attached. I think most of us like to see the babies. Personally not that into seeing the older rats get messed with."
Investigators also discovered multiple money transactions from Devilbiss' online payment accounts starting from April 12, 2022, to "support and further the production of animal crush videos" for the designated group, the complaint stated.
A criminal complaint brought by the Department of Justice is a formal charge arguing a defendant committed one or more violations of federal criminal law. A bond hearing for Devilbiss was set for Nov. 1. at 1 p.m.
If convicted, Devilbiss faces a maximum sentence of five years in federal prison.
This criminal case was investigated by the Clay County Sheriff's Office, the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office, the St. Johns County Sheriff's Office and Homeland Security Investigations, according to the Department of Justice.
Devilbiss was previously arrested by the St. Johns County Sheriff's Office in April 2023 on charges of felony larceny and two counts of misdemeanor charges of contributing delinquency of a minor.
Nicole Devilbiss Criminal Complaint *warning graphic material
