Philadelphia man sentenced to 38 months in federal prison for commissioning videos of tortured monkeys

Thankfully, prosecutors in the case of Robert Berndt did not submit video evidence as part of their court filing.

The Philadelphia man was sentenced to 38 months in federal prison this week for his role in a scheme to pay people in Indonesia to torture and sexually abuse monkeys on camera.

Berndt, 43, was a part of an online chat group in which people discussed and shared videos of tortured animals, according to Department of Justice court filings. Among the chat’s participants, Berndt’s “focus on the most grotesque forms of torture was unsurpassed.”

“Over and over again, Berndt expressed a desire for more extreme torture that resulted in more pain, experienced over a longer period of time,” prosecutors told the judge.

Messages from the chat are included in DOJ’s sentencing memo, and show Berndt’s enthusiasm over a video of a rat burning. Despite calling the footage “awesome,” he had suggestions on how to make the torture even crueler.

“Like I want to see them maimed and miserable,” Berndt wrote under the alias Requiem Rhythm. “Killing them is great, of course, but it puts an end to it while I want them to suffer longer.”

When the group discussed monkeys, Berndt expressed his desire for the tormentors to inflict more pain and focus on the primates’ genitalia.

Berndt and his chat-mates actively commissioned footage of the torture. They’d contact so-called videographers, usually in Indonesia, who would torture monkeys following specific requests — some for as little as $10 a video.

The monkeys in videos reviewed by DOJ were long-tailed macaques, which are native to Southeast Asia.

Berndt and a co-conspirator even discussed the possibility of buying a baby monkey that was advertised for sale, DOJ said in court filings. The two daydreamed about meeting up to torture the youngster together in real life.

“Hahah you would be welcome to visit and hang out,” Berndt said in a message to his co-conspirator, according to court records. “Like watching surgical theater.”

Prosecutors from DOJ’s Environment and Natural Resources Division indicted Berndt in April and he pleaded guilty in May to a felony count of conspiring to create and distribute in videos depicting animal crush videos, the legal term for causing a non-human mammal serious bodily injury. Five other co-conspirators from the chat group were indicted, at least two of whom were sentenced to serve time in prison.

Berndt’s attorney and DOJ did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Ahead of his sentencing, Berndt’s family members pleaded with the judge to not exceed the sentencing guidelines. which provide a range of 37 to 46 months of imprisonment.

The letters and Berndt’s attorney’s sentencing memo paint a picture of a man who loved animals and was dependable whenever his loved ones needed him in the past. But Berndt changed following a sexual assault and opioid addiction, the filings say.

Family members say that Berndt became manic and treated those who loved him as enemies. He became isolated, paranoid, and drank alcohol excessively.

By 2021, most of Berndt’s social interactions were through online chat rooms, according to his attorney’s memo. He sought the approval of his new friends by escalating his rhetoric.

“His acceptance and sense of validation with the group seemed to increase when he said more and more violent and troubling things,” his attorney told the judge.

But DOJ prosecutors rebuffed the idea that Berndt was merely a follower, and note that he only stopped his engagement in the groups after he was contacted by law enforcement in 2024.

“Berndt was personally responsible for creating some of the groups, establishing the rules of behavior within the groups, and then enforcing those rules after perceived violations,” prosecutors said in a sentencing memo.

Judge Edmund Sargus Jr., of the Southern District of Ohio, sentenced Berndt to 38 months of imprisonment followed by three years of probation.