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A Virginia man who tortured cats in order to obtain fraudulent social media donations received the state's largest penalty for animal abuse after Internet sleuths as far as France led investigators to him.
Rodney Travis Jr, 27, pleaded guilty on Wednesday to animal abuse and computer fraud charges in Henrico County Circuit Court after beating about 20 cats, according to Courthouse News.
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Jr → see → News
His plea agreement will require him to spend 15 years in prison.
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agreement → require → prison
Travis would upload the videos on social media platforms, including Instagram, TikTok and YouTube, while pretending that the pets had cancer.
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pets → upload → cancer
Travis would then solicit donations, according to the outlet.
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Travis → solicit → outlet
He used three Henrico hotels to take footage of the cats.
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He → use → cats
Henrico Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Dylan McAuley said Travis 'was only caught because a series of people around the world, as far as France, the UK, Arizona, California [and] Florida, recorded it, tracked him, and made sure we knew what was going on.'
McAuley said that it only took about a day to arrest Travis once the citizen investigators got the news to law enforcement.
Travis had raised more than $400,000 carrying out the vile scam since 2023, according to prosecutors.
The videos he posted online of the tortured cats included captions like, 'I don't want to lose my best friend' and 'she's all I have,' the outlet added.
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outlet → say → friend
Rodney Travis Jr, 27, pleaded guilty to animal abuse and computer fraud charges on Wednesday after abusing about 20 cats
Law enforcement rescued six cats from Travis' apartment, though they said he tortured and abused many more
Travis would post videos on social media platforms as he pretended that the cats were suffering with cancer
Police were told that Travis had checked into a hotel at 2am on February 13 and left shortly before 10am, the report continued.
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report → plead → 10
Travis used the Home2 Suites last September, the Residence Inn Short Pump Northwest last November and the Candlewood Suites this January, according to the Henrico Citizen.
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Travis → use → Citizen
Investigators discovered cat blood and hair in the room, which led to a search warrant being obtained for Travis's apartment.
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warrant → discover → apartment
There, investigators rescued six cats, which were injected with gabapentin.
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which → rescue → gabapentin
One of them died.
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One → die → them
They had cuts to their paws, bone fractures and other injuries.
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They → have → paws
The cat, named Vivi, suffered a crushed skull and died while on its way to the veterinarian, according to the outlet.
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cat → name → outlet
Cat beds covered in blood were also found in Travis's residence, as well as a leather book with curses that contained cat blood and fur.
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that → cover → blood
A dozen devices used for Travis's fraud, which prosecutors said he used to fund his music career, were also found inside the home.
Investigators also recovered a whiteboard which described details about how the torture scam worked.
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scam → use → details
One of the cats used and beaten by Travis in the fraudulent scheme was a gray tabby named Hayden, according to prosecutors
Travis would pretend that the cute pets had cancer but was actually abusing them
A veterinarian ruled that the cats experienced blunt forced trauma, according to prosecutors cited by the outlet.
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cats → use → outlet
Later, investigators found the body of a separate cat, named Nara, in a landfill.
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investigators → find → landfill
Travis stepped on the animal's head and crushed its skull, according to prosecutors.
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Travis → step → prosecutors
The court was also shown video of Travis laughing in the face of a wounded cat, the outlet reported.
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outlet → show → cat
McAuley called Travis's actions 'sadistic' and 'very, very extensive.
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McAuley → call → actions
'
'But what adds to that is the fact that it was not only just done out of cruelty,' McAuley said.
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McAuley → add → cruelty
'It's done for money, and for what seems to be amusement.'
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what → do → money
McAuley added that 15 years could be compared to a murder sentence.
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years → add → sentence
'While they're not people, these lives do matter, and I think any person can appreciate that killing and torturing a living thing speaks about the danger that person poses to the community,' he continued.
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he → matter → community
Travis had previously been arrested in February.
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Travis → arrest → February
Prosecutors said that Travis had tortured 26 cats in Virginia, with 18 cats presumed to be dead
Travis turned down an opportunity to speak at the hearing.
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Travis → say → hearing
His plea agreement was accepted by Henrico County Circuit Judge Linda Lambert.
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agreement → accept → Lambert
Travis, who lives in neighboring Chesterfield County, also pleaded guilty to similar charges there on Tuesday.
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who → live → Tuesday
Prosecutors said Travis's father, Rodney Travis Sr, also adopted several cats for his son.
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father → say → son
He has pleaded guilty to lesser charges for his involvement in Chesterfield.
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He → plead → Chesterfield
Travis tortured 26 cats in Virginia, according to prosecutors cited by WWBT.
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Travis → torture → WWBT
Two cats were confirmed to be dead, while another 18 other cats were presumed to be.
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cats → confirm → ?
Investigators described videos in which a gray striped tabby cat named Hayde seemed to be bleeding from his mouth and nose, per the outlet.
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cat → describe → outlet
The Cat's Cradle shelter said Travis had used fake names and disguises to adopt two cats, posing under the name Morgan Maxwell.
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Travis → say → name
Travis later returned and demanded another cat, which set off alarms among the rescuers who refused to return her to him.
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who → return → him
The Daily Mail has reached out to the Henrico Commonwealth's Attorney's Office for comment.
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Mail → reach → comment
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