Nicole Daedone, the co-founder and former CEO of sexual wellness education company OneTaste, has been handed a nine-year prison sentence over her part in what prosecutors described as a ‘forced labor conspiracy’, according to the US Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York.
The 58-year-old appeared in federal court in Brooklyn on Monday (March 30) after a jury found her guilty of conspiring to pressure OneTaste participants into providing sexual services to clients and investors.
Prosecutors said the alleged scheme ran for about a decade, with Daedone and Rachel Cherwitz — the company’s former Head of Sales — accused of using “psychological, emotional, and financial” tactics to dominate victims and “extract labor and services for their own benefit”, as outlined by United States Attorney Joseph Nocella.
“The jury’s verdict and today’s sentences demonstrate that coercion can take many forms—and that those who exploit others through such means will face serious consequences,” he continued, explaining that ‘coercion, disguised as wellness or empowerment, is still exploitation’.
“It is a crime that causes harm to vulnerable victims. The defendants’ combination of forced labor with sexual exploitation caused trauma to the victims in ways that extend beyond lost wages or long hours,” Nocella added.
In addition to the prison term, the court ordered a $12 million forfeiture money judgment against Daedone.
The figure matches the price for which she sold OneTaste in 2017, Courthouse News reported.
She was also ordered to pay nearly $900,000 in restitution to seven victims, the Attorney’s Office said.
Cherwitz, meanwhile, was sentenced by Judge Diane Gujarati to 78 months in prison for her involvement in what officials called an “egregious, insidious” conspiracy.
“The FBI is committed to holding accountable those who traffic in human labor and exploit others for profit,” stated FBI Assistant Director in Charge Barnacle.
“We thank the victims for their courage in coming forward.”
Daedone co-founded OneTaste in 2004, promoting ‘orgasmic meditation’ (OM) as a wellbeing practice.
News.com.au previously described OM sessions as involving clothed participants — referred to as “strokers” — manually stimulating a “strokee” on the upper-left quadrant of their clitoris for 15 minutes.
In a 2011 TEDx talk uploaded to YouTube, the self-styled “pioneer of women’s sexual liberation” said she first encountered the concept of ‘orgasmic meditation’ after being approached by a man at a party.
Reports also said the organisation sold annual memberships priced at $60,000, alongside workshops, demonstrations and coaching.
NPR noted that OneTaste’s profile rose sharply about five years after it launched, following a front-page feature in the New York Times’ Style section that helped spark a devoted, cult-like following.
Public allegations of wrongdoing emerged in 2018, roughly a year after Daedone sold the company and around the same period Cherwitz left her role.
At Monday’s hearing, a former OneTaste employee told the court she had “trusted” Daedone and said she had “fell into [her] trap”.
According to the New York Post, the woman — identified as Michal — told the court: “I was a perfect target because I was a vulnerable woman looking to improve my life.”
During the proceedings, several witnesses said they were pushed into carrying out different sexual acts with potential OneTaste clients and investors “under threat of termination, demotion, ostracism, and financial and spiritual ruin”.
Additional testimony alleged that some individuals were pressured into acting as “handlers” for OneTaste’s first investor — described by the Attorney’s Office as also being Daedone’s boyfriend.
Officials said witnesses claimed they were required to live with him, perform sex acts at his instruction, and carry out domestic work for him.
Judge Gujarati said Daedone’s conduct had “stripped victims of their dignity” and added that Daedone did not appear “remorseful”.
Anjuli Ayer, the current CEO of OneTaste — which has since rebranded as the Institute of OM — described the sentencings of Daedone and Cherwitz as “a terrifying day for freedom”.
Speaking to reporters outside of the courthouse, she continued: “Once persuasion becomes a crime, anyone can be a defendant, and anyone can be a victim. We must correct the record or everyone will suffer.”
Daedone’s attorney, Jennifer Bonjean, said that even after the guilty verdict, there are “many people today who see Nicole Daedone as a transformative force”.
Daedone did not address the court at sentencing; when asked if she wished to speak, she leaned toward the microphone and said “no, thank you”, according to reports.