‘Crush’ video couple gets life sentence

Screengrab from a “crush” fetish video shows a young animal being tortured to death.

MANILA, Philippines ― A husband and wife couple behind the production of revolting “crush” fetish videos now find themselves on the receiving end of a crushing – and very much deserved – blow. The couple has been sentence to life in prison and a fine of P 9-miliion each for producing the fetish videos depicting barely-clothed women stepping on and torturing animals.

The website of animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals-Asia Pacific (Peta) said that Dorma and Vicente Ridon were found guilty on the charges of “child abuse, animal welfare crimes, human trafficking, and wildlife-protection crimes.” They were sentenced on Monday by the San Fernando Regional Trial Court Branch 30 in La Union to life imprisonment.

The court’s decision was praised by Peta-Asia Vice President, Jason Baker, who said that this serves as “a warning to anyone involved in the vile crush video industry: there are grave consequences for harming animals.”

Peta detailed that the couple was involved in the creation of videos which showed young women in skimpy bikinis, performing brutal acts to animals; such as “skinning a dog alive and burning another with a clothes iron, cutting off rabbits’ ears and setting the rabbits on fire while they flailed and screamed, hitting a monkey in the eye with the sharp end of a stiletto heel, and crushing puppies until they vomited their own internal organs.”

The organization further reported that one of the girls in the “crush” videos was a minor; having been only 12-years-old at the time of the filming.

Peta added, as well, that these horrendous fetish videos are sold on the Internet to sexual fetishists mainly from the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, France, Korea, and Malaysia.

Police authorities define “crush” videos as those which generally show women “torturing and killing a wide variety of animals, including chickens, rabbits and more for the sexual gratification of its viewers.”

The Ridons were arrested by authorities in 2011, after Peta and the National Bureau of Investigation carried out an in-depth investigation of the couple’s participation in the production and sale of the fetish videos.

“Wanted” poster released by Peta, prior to the arrest of Dorma and Vicente Ridon in 2011. (Photo : Facebook / Peta)