The founder of the sexual wellness company OneTaste was convicted in New York of engaging in a yearslong forced-labor scheme by manipulating employees and some participants in the firm's educational courses.
Nicole Daedone, who co-founded OneTaste in 2004, was found guilty Monday by a federal jury in Brooklyn of one count of conspiracy to commit forced labor. Also convicted was Rachel Cherwitz, the former head of sales and a Daedone confidante. Jurors spent about two days deliberating after a five-week trial. Both women face as long as 20 years in prison.
OneTaste provided what it said were sexually-focused wellness education courses and events that could help individuals recover from trauma. Members signed up for retreats that sometimes lasted several weeks and could cost tens of thousands of dollars. According to prosecutors, Daedone and Cherwitz exploited some members and employees by coercing them to work for OneTaste without pay and to perform sexual acts with OneTaste investors.
US District Judge Diane Gujarati set Cherwitz's sentencing for Sept. 25 and Daedone's for Sept. 26. The women, who hugged each other and their attorneys after the verdict was announced, remain free on bail. Their lawyers said they plan to appeal the verdicts.
"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," Brooklyn US Attorney Joseph Nocella Jr. said in a statement.
The company was founded in San Francisco and eventually spread to Los Angeles, New York, London and other major cities.
In 2018, a Bloomberg investigation detailed how former employees alleged they'd been psychologically, financially and sexually exploited. Federal prosecutors filed criminal charges in 2023.
During the trial, federal prosecutors argued that the two women had coerced OneTaste employees and customers into working for the company with little or no pay. Women who had worked for OneTaste were among the prosecution witnesses who testified.
Several told jurors they felt "brainwashed" or feared being kicked out of a group that had become their whole life. Some said they were directed to have sex with co-workers and customers. According to prosecution witnesses, the company's main financial backer was given a series of "handlers" - women who were assigned to service him sexually for years.
Former employees testified that they believed the group was a cult. "These victims came to OneTaste seeking personal growth," Assistant US Attorney Sean Fern said during opening statements. "They left as shells of their former selves."
During questioning by defense lawyers, some of the women acknowledged they had not refused the assignments or expressed opposition to Daedone or Cherwitz. The employees also said they were not physically forced to stay at OneTaste and all eventually left the company.
"These were women who had full and complete autonomy over their brains and their bodies," Daedone's lawyer, Jennifer Bonjean, said during opening statements.
When the women were at OneTaste, "they were having a blast," but a decade later, "they want to blame others for their choices," said Bonjean, who has also represented Harvey Weinstein, R. Kelly and Bill Cosby.
The defense arguments lasted less than a day, with just one witness. Daedone didn't testify, even though she'd said last year during an NBC TV interview that she "absolutely" planned to.
The case is US v. Daedone, 23-cr-146, US District Court, Eastern District of New York (Brooklyn).
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