British crocodile expert Adam Britton admits to sexually abusing and killing dozens of dogs in Australia

A British crocodile expert and former university professor has pleaded guilty to raping dogs at an animal shelter in Australia.

Adam Britton, 51, began his crimes in 2014 and sexually abused more than 42 dogs until his arrest in April 2022.

Britton remained calm as he pleaded guilty to animal cruelty in the Northern Territory Supreme Court on Monday.

He also pleaded guilty to four counts of accessing and distributing child abuse material.

The cruel mistreatment resulted in the death of 39 dogs.

Before prosecutor Marty Aust read the agreed facts of the case, presiding judge Michael Grant ordered the public, security personnel and the media to leave the courtroom.

“These facts contain material which can only be described as grotesque and perverse acts of cruelty which are confronting and disturbing and which, in my opinion, have the potential to induce nervous shock,” he said.

“Anyway, I’ll leave that up to you, but the potential has been described.”

Britton not only abused his own dogs, but also procured other dogs from unsuspecting owners in the Darwin area through Gumtree Australia.

“(He) often built a good relationship with dog owners when negotiating their adoption of the animals, as many of them were reluctant to give up their pets due to travel or work commitments,” Aust said.

The former academic, who once hosted legendary broadcaster and biologist David Attenborough, was born in the UK and holds a PhD in zoology from the University of Bristol.

Britton shared videos and images of himself sexually exploiting the dogs in online forums under pseudonyms.

Eventually, a video was sent to the Northern Territory Animal Welfare Authority and from there forwarded to the Northern Territory Police, who arrested Britton in April 2022.

Since then he has been in custody.

Britton was a well-known crocodile expert in the Northern Territory and a senior researcher at Charles Darwin University.

None of his crimes are said to have been directed against the reptiles.

His case is scheduled to return to court on December 13 for sentencing.