Feds are ‘criminalizing sex’ in NYC case against alleged ‘orgasm cult’ OneTaste: lawyers
The feds are “criminalizing sex” and looking to put people “in prison for funsies” by prosecuting the two glamorous leaders of embattled “sexual wellness” empire OneTaste, their lawyers claimed Wednesday.
“I would say the government is trying to criminalize sex. That is what this case is about, make no bones about it,” said Duncan Levin, who represents the company’s head of sales Rachel Cherwitz, after a hearing in Brooklyn federal court.
Cherwitz and the company’s founder Nicole Daedone are slated to head to trial in January 2025 on charges that they operated OneTaste like a cult by grooming members into having sex with investors and clients, while driving the members into debt. Both women have been charged with conspiracy to commit forced labor and face up to 20 years in prison if convicted.
The pair were in court Wednesday for a hearing in which their lawyers argued that the case should be thrown out for what they claimed was “misconduct” by the feds, including an FBI agent allegedly ordering a key witness to delete her email account.
But prosecutors — calling the defense’s claims “baseless” and “speculative” — responded in court papers that the agent in question was simply trying to protect the witness from harassment she’d received from other OneTaste members, rather than destroy evidence.
Daedone and Cherwitz were flanked in court Wednesday by around a dozen followers of their California-based company, also known as the Institute of OM or Eros, which is currently offering its orgasm meditation classes out of a Harlem office, according to a spokesperson.
The “orgasmic meditation” treatment, in which a group of women have their genitals stroked methodically for 15 minutes, “is a transformative practice that heals maladies ranging from sexual dysfunction and trauma to depression and anxiety,” its website boasts.
Lawyers for Daedone and Cherwitz sounded off against the case again to reporters after the hour-long hearing, claiming that the feds charged the women using a unique interpretation of the “conspiracy to commit forced labor” law.
“This is just [the Eastern District of New York] trying to be creative, and the courts have said it’s not your job to be creative and see if you can put someone in prison for funsies and that’s really what they’re doing here,” said Jennifer Bonjean, who represents Daedone.
Bonjean, who is best known for defending Bill Cosby and R. Kelly on charges involving sexual misconduct, also claimed Wednesday that the feds are “targeting women, frankly, which is an interesting flip on the #MeToo,” despite the fact that prosecutors built their case on the word of at least one woman who told the FBI she was coerced into sexual acts.
The company has had a fall from grace since 2018, when more than 35,000 people attended their in-person events, they were endorsed by Gwyneth Paltrow’s Goop website, and Daedone delivered a viral speech at a Tedx conference encouraging skeptical attendees to try out orgasmic meditation.
The company was also the subject of a 2022 Netflix documentary called “Orgasm Inc” that detailed some of the allegations that are part of the criminal case.
Judge Diane Gujarati didn’t take a position on the OneTaste legal team’s claims and set a July 17 deadline for the attorneys to formalize their arguments in a motion to dismiss the case.
