One clue that brought down Darwin’s crocodile-expert dog rapist: How an eagle-eyed internet detective brought a horrific predator to justice after spotting tiny details in an abuse video
EXCLUSIVE, WARNING: Graphic content
Internet sleuths helped arrest a once-respected crocodile expert who filmed himself raping, torturing and murdering dogs after managing to identify a leash in an abuse video he posted online.
Adam Robert Corden Britton, 52, pleaded guilty in the Darwin Supreme Court on Monday to a series of charges relating to animal abuse, bestiality and possession of child exploitation material.
The court heard Britton obtained around 42 dogs from Gumtree, often from owners who had reluctantly given up their animals due to work commitments. This was solely for the purpose of sexually exploiting them for his own sadistic pleasure.
Britton operated two Telegram accounts called “monster” and “Cerberus” – the latter being a three-headed dog in Greek mythology – between 2020 and 2022.
Britton used these accounts to engage with like-minded people about animal cruelty and bestiality.
However, he was in control of his own undoing when he posted a disturbing video titled “1B***h9Pups” on an abuse website on March 22, 2022.
Adam Robert Corden Britton (pictured) was a respected zoologist until he pleaded guilty to a series of animal abuse charges.
Pictured: An image of a dog wearing an orange leash from the city of Darwin – like the one the Internet Detective spotted in Britton’s abuse video.
The next day, an anonymous user noticed that the adult dog was wearing an orange leash from the city of Darwin with the slogan “Big animals start with you.”
They passed the images to the NT Animal Protection Branch via Gmail, who then referred the matter to police.
On April 22, a month after Britton posted the video online, NT Police and the Australian Federal Police raided his home in McMinns Lagoon, in Darwin’s south.
Detectives seized computers, cell phones, cameras, external hard drives, tools, weapons, dog accessories and sex toys.
They also found severed dog limbs in a freezer, a decomposing puppy in a pond on the property and a severed dog head on a neighboring property.
Britton was ultimately charged with 37 counts of animal cruelty, 10 counts of rape or attempted rape of a dog, and four counts of possession or transmission of child pornography.
The video and descriptions of his abuse are so disturbing that Daily Mail Australia has chosen not to publish it.
Britton (pictured left, with wife Erin) previously hosted Sir David Attenborough (right). There is no suggestion that his wife knew of his offence.
The court also heard he sexually abused his own Swiss shepherds, Ursa and Bolt, for almost a decade, until he eventually went to Gumtree to find more dogs to kill.
After pleading guilty to all charges Monday, Chief Justice Michael Grant warned the press gallery that the facts in question detailed “acts that could only be described as grotesque cruelty, both confronting and distressing.”
“Which, in my opinion, is likely to cause nervous shock or other adverse psychological reaction in a person exposed to these details,” he said.
Britton was indicted last year, but his name was suppressed by the courts to ensure media attention would not bias a jury against him.
The order was lifted after he pleaded guilty on Monday.
His case is scheduled to return to court on Dec. 13 for sentencing submissions.
