3 days ago
Leaders of sexual wellness company OneTaste convicted in forced labor case
Two former top executives of a women-focused sexual wellness company that offered hands-on 'orgasmic meditation' classes were found guilty of forced labor conspiracy, federal prosecutors announced Monday.
OneTaste co-founder and former CEO Nicole Daedone, 57, and the company's former sales director Rachel Cherwitz, 44, were accused of using 'deception and abuse' to obtain the labor and services of employees in a years-long coercive scheme.
Investigators say the two women and an undisclosed number of co-conspirators subjected 'multiple young women' to economic, sexual, emotional, financial and psychological abuse, as well as surveillance, indoctrination and intimidation between 2006 and 2018.
Founded in San Francisco in 2004, OneTaste operated in cities across the U.S., including New York and Los Angeles, as well as in London. The sexual wellness education company generated revenue through coaching, events, and classes on sexual practices, including 'orgasmic meditation,' which involved stroking a woman's genitals for 15 minutes.
Some of the women who had turned to OneTaste seeking healing and spiritual guidance were instead coerced into working long hours — seven days a week — for little or no pay, performing manual labor and providing sexual services, prosecutors said.
Those allegations were depicted in the 2022 Netflix documentary, 'Orgasm Inc: The Story of OneTaste.'
The defendants did so by using abusive and manipulative tactics to make their victims emotionally and psychologically dependent on OneTaste, which was sold in 2017 for $12 million.
The two women were charged by federal prosecutors with forced labor conspiracy in June 2023, accused of grooming victims to engage in sex acts with investors, clients, employees and benefactors.
On Monday, a federal jury in Brooklyn convicted Daedone, of New York, and Cherwitz, of California, following a five-week trial in which three witnesses testified about becoming 'handlers' for OneTaste's initial investor— who was also Daedone's boyfriend.
The women recalled being required to live with him, cook for him, and 'perform demeaning sex acts at his direction,' prosecutors said.
U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, Joseph Nocella Jr., commended the witnesses who testified despite the trauma they endured at the hands of the defendants.
'The jury's verdict has unmasked Daedone and Cherwitz for who they truly are: grifters who preyed on vulnerable victims by making empty promises of sexual empowerment and wellness only to manipulate them into performing labor and services for the defendants' benefit,' he said following the verdict.
Attorneys for the two women said they were 'deeply disappointed' with the jury's decision, adding that Daedone and Cherwitz maintain their innocence and plan to continue their fight on appeal.
'We find inspiration in our clients, Nicole and Rachel, who have shown incredible strength throughout this entire process,' the lawyers said in a statement Monday. 'This case raised numerous novel and complex legal issues that will require review by the Second Circuit.'
