SLOBODIAN: Winnipeg couple tortured 90 animals, fantasized about children, and smiled for Facebook photos — 12 years isn't enough, but it's a start

They told the court that they were sorry for torturing and crushing to death 90 animals, then selling the sadistic videos on the dark web. This is the same Winnipeg couple that discussed their intention to torture and sexually assault a child. Some of their animal videos had sexual content.Mercifully, Irene Lima, 56, and Chad Kabecz, 41, got caught before they had the chance to possibly escalate to that. Expressing shame and remorse in shackles didn’t do these loathsome savages any good.Thank God they landed in the courtroom of Winnipeg Court of King’s Bench Justice Jeffrey Harris. He sentenced Lima and Kabecz to 12 years in prison on Wednesday. “I cannot begin to perceive the suffering,” said Harris when he delivered a sentence that included a lifetime ban on owning, possessing, or being near animals.No time is long enough for Lima and Kabecz to sit in jail, to be kept apart from animals, children, and society. But alleluia! It’s an unprecedented stiff sentence for animal abuse in Canada. Harris is to be highly commended. In Canada’s justice system, too many benches are occupied by judges who dispense lenient sentences to serious offenders who viciously prey on both humans and animals..Maybe this precedent set by Harris will inspire others overseeing animal abuse cases to be less soft and sympathetic in sentencing those who carry out sociopathic and psychopathic behaviour. Lima’s lawyer, Mike Cook, said the sentencing will become a precedent-setting case in Canada.“I firmly believe this case will be the leading case on cruelty to animals, probably for the next 100 years,” said Cook, according to CTV News.To ‘earn’ what amounted to $2,800, according to PayPal records, Lima stomped animals to death with her bare feet while Kabecz filmed the cruelty that the court heard sometimes involved sexual “components.”They brutalized more than 60 cats and kittens, as well as rabbits, hamsters, birds, goldfish, a frog, and a salamander over six months in 2024. The videos were sold in a group called Goddess May Barefoot Premium Crush. Evil freaks, still somewhere out there, were charged between $5 and $180 per video to view this debauchery on the dark web. But it’s only one site feeding a voracious appetite for viewing animal torture that knows no boundaries. Worldwide, investigations have discovered grisly videos of animals skinned alive, tossed into boiling water, beaten, set afire, lowered into blenders, tortured with power tools, eaten while alive, limbs and tails sawed off, subjected to bestiality, and more. For profit and entertainment..SLOBODIAN: Sadistic ‘entertainment’ animal torture, kill underworld thrives.Winnipeg police seized several electronic devices with hundreds of videos and photographs and tens of thousands of encrypted chats between the couple that included plans to torture a child. They discovered that between May and October 2024, more than 75 animals were filmed being tortured and killed at their hands..The unnerving thing is that Lima and Kabecz look like normal people smiling in one photo that was posted to Facebook. But then, most sadistic monsters do look deceptively normal.“What’s remarkable is that you both led unremarkable lives before this. You went to school, had jobs, good, loving families. I’m sure that your families are stunned to learn these facts,” said Harris. “The moral blameworthiness is at the highest level.”Lima and Kabecz were arrested in 2024 following a tip to Manitoba's provincial veterinarian about animal videos being sold on Telegram.During Kabecz’s bail hearing that October, Crown attorney Sean Sass explained what those animals were subjected to.“These are not quick kills. As the time stamps seem to indicate, some of these videos are five minutes long. They're staged, premeditated torturing that result in the death of very vulnerable animals,” said Sass.A Winnipeg Humane Society community impact statement read in court addressed the horror those animals would have gone through: “Animal victims would’ve suffered extreme anxiety; death was not instantaneous. They would’ve felt terror trying to escape their abuser.”Lima and Kabecz were initially let out on bail, then scooped up again and tossed behind bars, where they remained. They will be credited with time served.Both eventually pleaded guilty to six charges of animal cruelty in November 2025. Eight charges were stayed due to a plea bargain. They read prepared statements in court on Wednesday..“I have hurt my family and angered many people, and I am deeply sorry for causing so much hurt and anger,” said Lima. “There is not a day I wish I could go back and change everything.”How touching. But this would be the same monster who went by the name “Goddess May” online. The same monster who, as prosecutors once pointed out, wrote in her diary how much pleasure it brought her to kill things with her feet.Her lawyer said she’s “disgusted” with herself. Funny how the alleged self-loathing is triggered after perpetrators get caught. In his statement, Kabecz talked about thoughts and prayers for his girlfriend. “I made my own choices to be involved. I hold no animosity or anger towards Irene. I pray for her and for her safety every single day.”This would be the same monster who police said required people wanting to join his dark web to submit videos of themselves killing animals.According to his lawyer Ethan Pollack, he’s taken “full responsibility” and is “committing to be a better person.”Well, thanks to Harris, he’ll have a long time to work on all that behind bars..The Winnipeg Humane Society posted a statement noting that this was the highest sentence handed down in Canada for animal cruelty.“As an organization that advocates for those without a voice, we recognize there were more to be heard beyond the victims. The impact of animal cruelty cases causes ripples. It touches animal rescues, pet owners, and every person in Winnipeg who believes animals deserve protection and compassion,” it said.“The CIS outlines our collective hurt but also serves as a reminder of our united strength. Together, we can create a safer world for the animals who rely on us. Today’s ruling showed exactly that.”Previously, the longest prison sentence was 6.5 years handed to Calgary’s Aleeta Raugust in 2023 for torturing and killing multiple cats. Lima and Kabecz never named a specific child in their chats about escalating the kill thrill from kittens and rabbits. There’s no evidence they did that. But these sick, sick people who were capable of inflicting gut-wrenching cruelty on animals fantasized about doing the same to a child.Was the 12-year sentence too harsh for this demented duo? Hardly. Serial killers — among them Jeffrey Dahmer, Ted Bundy, and David Berkowitz — viciously practiced torturing and killing animals first. Just saying.Thanks to one tip and the work of the police, the Crown, and Justice Harris, these menaces are locked up.Unfortunately, those who paid for the ‘entertainment’ they sold aren’t.

SLOBODIAN: Winnipeg couple tortured 90 animals, fantasized about children, and smiled for Facebook photos — 12 years isn't enough, but it's a start

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