The founder of sexual wellness education startup OneTaste pleaded not guilty to charges that she engaged in a conspiracy to manipulate victims of past sexual trauma and abuse into providing forced labor.
(Bloomberg) — The founder of sexual wellness education startup OneTaste pleaded not guilty to charges that she engaged in a conspiracy to manipulate victims of past sexual trauma and abuse into providing forced labor.
Nicole Daedone, 56, who was also the company’s chief executive officer, entered her plea Tuesday in federal court in Brooklyn, New York after surrendering to authorities earlier in the day. She was released on a $1 million bond secured by the signatures of her mother, her mother’s boyfriend and a friend, former OneTaste employee Marcus Ratnathicam, who agreed to put up his $2 million property in Fort Bragg, California, as security.
Daedone, of San Diego, and the company’s former head of sales, Rachel Cherwitz, were charged by federal prosecutors in Brooklyn last week with forced labor conspiracy, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. Cherwitz was arrested last week in San Francisco, appeared before a magistrate judge there on June 7 and was released on an unsecured $300,000 bond. Both defendants are scheduled to return to court on June 21.
“Under the guise of empowerment and wellness, the defendants are alleged to have sought complete control over their employees’ lives, including by driving them into debt and directing them to perform sexual acts while also withholding wages,” Brooklyn US Attorney Breon Peace said in a statement last week.
Read More: Sexual Wellness Startup Founder Charged With Forced Labor
San Francisco-based OneTaste was founded by Daedone in 2004. The company offered courses in orgasmic meditation, or OM, which it trademarked and marketed to both men and women as a way to help them get in touch with their sexuality. At the height of its success in the mid-2010s, OneTaste had outposts in cities including New York, Los Angeles and London.
“Nicole Daedone is a ceiling-shattering feminist entrepreneur who built and grew a company like no other, supporting and embracing female sexuality, female worth and female empowerment,” Julia Gatto, a lawyer for Daedone, said outside the courthouse following her arraignment. “The idea that this woman at this company engaged in forced labor is as far from the truth and reality as one can comprehend. She pleaded not guilty today, she’s not guilty.”
Hayes Phillips Hyde, a lawyer for Cherwitz, didn’t respond to an email seeking comment on the charges.
OneTaste’s current CEO, Anjuli Ayer, has called the charges against Daedone and Cherwitz “completely unjustified.” In a statement issued Tuesday, Ayer said she and the company’s other owners stand by Daedone and Cherwitz and “look forward to their vindication.”
Read More: The Dark Side of OneTaste, the Orgasmic Meditation Company
“The Federal Government’s description of the behaviors alleged in its indictment bear no credible resemblance to the organization we acquired and have committed our lives to, nor to anything we know of Nicole and Rachel,” Ayer said. “It is important to note that under our leadership, OneTaste, since 2018, has been proactive and open in voluntarily seeking to engage with government prosecutors to address all of their concerns regarding a variety of falsehoods published in the media.”
“Over the course of many months, we have provided the FBI and the DOJ with the unvarnished facts regarding the law-abiding history of OneTaste and its principals,” Ayer said. “Our confidence in the truth and credibility of the material we shared is unwavering and remains undiminished by these charges.”
Prosecutors allege that Daedone and Cherwitz took advantage of volunteers, contractors, and employees who had suffered prior trauma and believed OneTaste executives’ promises to “heal” them. If the members could not afford OneTaste’s courses, Daedone and Cherwitz allegedly induced the OneTaste members to incur debt, sometimes directly assisting them in opening new credit cards.
The case is US v. Daedone, 23-cr-146, US District Court, Eastern District of New York (Brooklyn).
–With assistance from Ellen Huet.
(Updates with details of bail suretors in second paragraph. An earlier version of the story corrected the gender of the current CEO.)
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