Orgasm guru Nicole Daedone, who a jury found turned her sexual wellness business, OneTaste, into a forced labor conspiracy that preyed on vulnerable women, was sentenced to nine years behind bars Monday.
Daedone, 58, and, and OneTaste executive Rachel Cherwitz, 45, were convicted last June after a five-week trial in Brooklyn Federal Court, after jurors heard evidence of how the duo groomed vulnerable women into performing labor, including sexual activities, for more than a decade.
OneTaste’s rose to fame for its “orgasmic meditation” sessions, where “one person strokes the clitoris of the other person for 15 minutes with no goal except to feel,” according to one of the company’s affiliate web sites.
Federal prosecutors laid out at trial how that business was built on a foundation of forced labor and abuse. Several witnesses testified about how they were drawn in by promises that OneTaste’s methods could heal their past sexual trauma or addiction issues.
Instead, they were roped into opening up lines of credit to pay for expensive courses and coerced into working long hours — seven days a week — for little or no pay, performing manual labor and providing sexual services.
“We disagree that she targeted vulnerable people,” defense lawyer Jennifer Bonjean said Monday. “The government wants to paint OneTaste, paint Ms. Daedone’s work, in one broad stroke. I just don’t think that’s fair.”
Daedone, who’s been locked up in MDC Brookyln since her conviction, has put on a public PR offensive that included writing a book behind bars titled “Jailbirds in Flight” and creating an “AI Avatar” of herself talking about her time in jail. Her sentencing memo included more than 280 pages of character letters, including from “The West Wing” actor Richard Schiff and political commentator Van Jones.
She asked to wear civilian clothes to her sentencing, but Brooklyn Federal Court Judge Diane Gujarati refused that request.
Attorney Alan Dershowitz told NBC earlier this month he’s going to push for the president to pardon Daedone and Cherwitz.
When asked if she wanted to make a statement, Daedone said, “No, thank you.”
AP Photo/Jeenah Moon
Nicole Daedone, founder and former CEO of OneTaste, departs Brooklyn federal court on June 13, 2023. (AP Photo/Jeenah Moon)
On Monday, Gujarati said she’d reviewed all the letters, more than once, and had watched a video submission by Daedone’s team, but nonetheless blasted her for her lack of remorse and the harm she caused.
“Ms. Daedone exploited certain women in a calculated way and made money off of that exploitation. Ms. Daedone is not the victim here,” said the judge, who oversaw the trial. What she was doing was not about enlightenment or operating on a different dimension. It wasn’t a game or a show. It wasn’t Harry Potter or the Matrix. It was criminal.”
Three witnesses testified about how they were coerced into becoming “handlers” for OneTaste’s initial deep-pocketed founder and Daedone’s boyfriend, performing sexual acts on him, using sex toys on him, and in one case, walking him on a leash.
In a statement Monday, one victim told the judge, “I trusted Nicole and wanted to be part of her so-called feminist mission.”
“In reality, I fell into Nicole’s trap,” she said. “I was the perfect target… I was left with significant financial damages and emotional harm.”
Daedone must also pay out nearly $890,000 in restitution to seven of her victims.
Cherwit’z sentencing was still pending Monday.