A man who made almost $400,000 through his open website that showed stomach-curdling footage of people going through extreme procedures, including male castrations, has been jailed for life.
Marius Gustavson was the ringleader of a lucrative extreme body modification enterprise based in Kensington, London.
The pay-per-view website, titled ‘Eunuch Maker’, shared graphic content of "dangerous, unnecessary, and life-changing surgeries" carried out by people with no medical qualifications, as reported by Sky News.
It was revealed at the Old Bailey that the Norwegian national operated on an unprecedented scale with a “staggering” 22,841 registered users and amassed almost $400,000 over six years.
According to BBC, subscribers paid to watch the procedures, with varying levels of membership from "free" to "VIP" which cost $124.
The so-called Eunuch Maker, who is wheelchair-bound, was involved in some of the sick activities such as freezing his own leg so it could be amputated.
He also had his own penis and one of his nipples removed by a male escort - which he kept in a closet for four years until it was found by cops during a raid on his home.
Gustavson also kept a freezer stocked with several body parts at his home in Tottenham, London, including testicles that he had severed off other men.
Gustavson pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit grievous bodily harm, five counts of grievous bodily harm with intent, one count of making an indecent photograph of a child, one count of distributing an indecent photograph of a child, and possession of criminal property contrary to Section 329(1) of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002.
Ion Ciucur, 30, Peter Wates, 66, a retired former member of the Royal Society of Chemists, Stefan Scharf, 61, David Carruthers 61, Janus Atkin, 38, Ashley Williams, 32, pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit grievous bodily harm.
The charges relate to 13 victims who are being safeguarded by specialist detectives. One of the victims described Gustavson as a “lunatic” who had put together a “slick, professional website," in their impact statement, as cited by The Guardian.
Addressing the main suspect, the judge said: “You are very much the mastermind behind this grisly and gruesome enterprise. The business you set up was both busy and lucrative.”
However, he stated the others were “willing participants”.
The Old Bailey was shown extremely graphic footage of the proceedings, including a freezer filled with body parts stored in plastic bags and takeaway containers.
It was alleged in court that Gustavson was driven towards the horrifying subculture by a desire to be “the architect of his own body” after his 11-year marriage ended in 2016, as reported by The Independent.
“His modification led him to feelings of empowerment,” Rashvinderjeet Panesar, defending the suspect, said. “It appears at face value to be something that’s become an addiction for him.”
The attorney claimed that his client had been diagnosed with body identity integrity disorder, which was the reason for his wanting to have body parts removed.
Prosecutor Caroline Carberry KC told the Old Bailey that the men "were active in the extreme body modification or mutilation scene and the consensual or mutilation of male genitalia".
She said that the procedures were filmed with “increasing professionalism” and the website "was operating in plain sight - not on the dark web - accessible to anyone who stumbled upon it and had the inclination and means to pay to view the gruesome footage".
In addition to this, she added that there was "clear evidence of cannibalism" in the case, as pictures discovered on Gustavson's phone from 22 June 2018 allegedly show "he cooked some testicles for lunch," per Sky News.
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