What is 'paraphilia,' a condition UK dog rapist suffers from
What's the story
An unsuspecting crocodile expert and zoologist made headlines last year after he was found to have carried out one of the worst cases of animal abuse in Australia's history.
The crime, which earned 53-year-old Adam Britton the title "world's worst animal abuser," involved filming himself abusing, raping, and killing dozens of dogs and puppies.
He appeared in court this week for his sentencing hearing, as his defense claimed he suffered from "paraphilia" throughout the period when the crimes took place.
Legal proceedings
Britton's defense cites paraphilia
Paraphilia is a condition characterized by intense sexual fantasies about uncommon objects, situations or behaviors.
According to WebMD, most paraphilias are rare and are about 20 times more common among males than females.
While several of these disorders are associated with aggressive behavior, others are not aggressive or harmful.
Some paraphilias, including pedophilia, exhibitionism, voyeurism, sadism, and frotteurism, are considered criminal offenses.
Criminal charges
Britton's charges include bestiality, child abuse material
The case has been adjourned for further psychiatric evaluation and is set to continue on August 8.
Britton is facing up to 249 years in prison for crimes he committed between 2020 and 2022, though many suspect they date as far back as 2014.
The Briton has pleaded guilty to 60 charges of bestiality, animal cruelty, and possessing child abuse material.
Torture room
Torture videos shared on Telegram
To carry out his sadistic crimes, he used a shipping container on his property dubbed "torture room," where he filmed himself sexually exploiting and then beating to death dogs he sourced for free online.
Over the two-year period, he obtained 42 dogs from Gumtree, promising their previous owners he would give them a "good home."
He did not even spare his own white Swiss Shepherds, Ursa and Bolt.
The videos were later shared on Telegram to engage with like-minded abusers.
Public outrage
Protesters demand death penalty for Britton
The law caught up to him eventually when an online sleuth identified Britton and alerted the police, who raided his home in Darwin a month after the sick videos were posted.
Fourty-four items, including computers, phones, cameras, external hard drives, tools, and weapons, were confiscated by the police.
They also discovered more than a dozen files containing child abuse material on one of his laptops.
Protesters have demanded the death penalty for Britton, although Australia abolished capital punishment in 1985.