Founders of OneTaste ‘orgasm cult' guilty of grooming employees to have sex with clients
They're finished.
The glamorous leaders of the alleged 'orgasm cult' OneTaste were found guilty Monday of grooming their wellness company's members to have sex with clients and investors.
OneTaste founder Nicole Daedone, 57, and her former head of sales, Rachel Cherwitz, 44, stood trial for four weeks in Brooklyn federal court as prosecutors argued the pair waged a decade-long campaign of coercion and sexual abuse.
Nine former OneTaste employees testified about the company's cult-like atmosphere, where Daedone and Cherwitz manipulated them into performing a slew of sexual acts.
'These nine victims provided labor and services for what spanned more than a decade, from menial services to sex acts,' said Assistant US Attorney Nina Gupta in closing statements last week.
Daedone and Cherwitz face up to 20 years behind bars after jurors convicted them on a conspiracy to commit forced labor charge following 12 1/2 hours of deliberations over two days.
The verdict seals a fall from grace for the company's founders, who promoted so-called 'orgasmic meditation' involving group pleasuring sessions – and had been endorsed by Gwyneth Paltrow's Goop website.
But the glitzy, libertine facade came crashing down after a series of exposés, including a Netflix documentary, revealing accusations that workers were encouraged to flirt and even have sex with potential clients.
The feds eventually accused Daedone and Cherwitz of running their business like a cult, recruiting people who suffered past trauma by claiming they could fix their sexual suffering.
Cherwitz enlisted one employee, a rape victim, to 'reenact' the incident before a crowd for a taboo course – performing oral sex on a partner while being told 'I love you,' as her real rapist had, prosecutors said.
The purported goal, Gupta said, was 'to move from revulsion to turn on.'
OneTaste also indoctrinated employees using terms like 'muggles,' from the 'Harry Potter' series, and 'Fourth Dimension' (one taste being the Fourth Dimension) to establish an us-versus-them attitude, prosecutors argued.
Daedone herself even called the company a 'sex cult' during its early days, according to prosecutors.
The California native founded OneTaste in San Francisco in 2004 as a wellness company promoting female empowerment — which, controversially, offered 'orgasmic meditation' for women.
While it grew to have locations in New York, Las Vegas, Los Angeles and Denver, prosecutors said the cheeky start-up hid a dark side.
'Behind the scenes, Nicole Daedone and Rachel Cherwitz directed young women to perform sexual services on VIPs and potential clients,' Gupta said.
The depraved duo recruited vulnerable victims of past trauma to join their ranks, forcing them into sex work and other unpaid labor and leaving them to rack up debt, the feds said.
The pair's lawyers argued that prosecutors persuaded OneTaste members into discovering their victimhood in hindsight, when at the time they were eager participants.
'The government tried to shock you about sex, orgasm, forced conduct… but not a single witness came to report a crime… not one filed a police report,' argued Celia Cohen, defense attorney for Cherwitz, during closing arguments. 'No one called the FBI. No one called to say they were forced into sex or labor.'
But jurors evidently saw otherwise.
'The jury's verdict has unmasked Daedone and Cherwitz for who they truly are: grifters who preyed on vulnerable victims,' said Brooklyn US Attorney Joseph Nocella Jr.
'By making empty promises of sexual empowerment and wellness only to manipulate them into performing labor and services for the defendants' benefit.'
Attorneys for Daedone and Cherwitz vowed to fight the verdict, saying they were 'deeply disappointed' in the decision.
'We maintain our clients' innocence and look forward to continuing this fight on appeal,' said Cohen and Michael Robotti, of Ballard Spahr LLP, in a joint statement with Jennifer Bonjean, of the Bonjean Law Group.
'This case raised numerous novel and complex legal issues that will require review by the Second Circuit. We find inspiration in our clients, Nicole and Rachel, who have shown incredible strength throughout this entire process.'
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