A prominent crocodile expert and academic has pleaded guilty to a slew of animal cruelty charges, including the rape and torture of dogs.
Adam Robert Corden Britton, 51, began his offending in 2014 torturing and sexually exploiting more than 42 dogs until his arrest in April 2022.
Britton, an academic at Charles Darwin University, stood calmly as he pleaded guilty to the 56 counts in the Northern Territory Supreme Court on Monday.
He also pleaded guilty to four counts of accessing and transmitting child abuse material.
Adam Robert Corden Britton, 51, began his offending in 2014 and torturing and sexually exploiting more than 42 dogs until his arrest in April 2022
Britton stood calmly as he pleaded guilty to the 56 counts in the NT Supreme Court on Monday
Before prosecutor Marty Aust read out the agreed facts of the charges, NT Chief Justice Michael Grant urged the public gallery, security staff and media to leave the court.
'These facts contain material that can only be described as grotesque and perverse acts of cruelty which is confronting and distressing and which in my assessment have the potential to cause nervous shock,' he said.
'Either way I'll leave that up to you, but the potential has been described.'
Details of the offending are too gruesome to be published but resulted in the death of 39 dogs.
'The offender has had a sadistic sexual interest in animals and in particular dogs,' Mr Aust said.
As well as torturing his own dogs, Britton sourced other canines off Gumtree from unsuspecting owners in the Darwin region.
'(He) often built a rapport with the dog owners in negotiating taking custody of their animals, many of whom had to reluctantly give their pets away due to travel or work commitments,' Mr Aust said.
In one scenario, Britton sent a message to the owners of a large brown dog to reassure them the animal was 'settling in well'.
'Wolfe was relaxed and eating well and enjoying her new home,' the message wrote.
But unbeknownst to the previous owners the dog had already been 'sexually exploited, tortured and killed,' Mr Aust said.
Britton, a former academic, who once hosted legendary broadcaster and biologist David Attenborough, would share videos and images of himself sexually exploiting the dogs on online forums under pseudonyms.
Details of the offending are too gruesome to be published but resulted in the death of 39 dogs
A video was eventually sent to NT Animal Welfare Branch and passed on to NT police who arrested Britton in April 2022.
He has been remanded in custody since then.
Britton was a prominent NT crocodile expert and a senior researcher at CDU.
None of his offending is alleged to have been against the reptiles.
His matter is set to return to court on December 13 for sentencing submissions.
