Accused sex cult leaders ready for NYC criminal trial
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BROOKLYN (CN) — On a drizzly Brooklyn Monday, potential jurors filed into a federal courtroom where sat Nicole Daedone and Rachel Cherwitz, two California women accused of abusing staff at a controversial organization that promoted sex acts — namely women’s orgasms — as a method to achieve higher meaning, deeper universal connection and healing of trauma.
In reality, prosecutors say the pair used abusive and manipulative tactics to gain control over their employees and demanded absolute commitment to Daedone, the founder and CEO of OneTaste.
Members lived under constant surveillance in group homes and were encouraged to limit contact with people outside the community — and once under the control of Daedone and Cherwitz, the company’s former head of sales, were subjected to further abuse, according to their indictment.
Daedone calls the group’s flagship practice “orgasmic meditation,” or OM, pronounced like the sacred sound and spiritual symbol commonly invoked in yoga and meditation. In court Monday for the first day of jury selection, several of her supporters held prayer beads as prospective jurors entered the courtroom; Daedone herself did the same, while silently chanting during pretrial hearings.
Far from the ancient, solitary practice of meditation, Daedone’s invention is a partnered practice that typically involves the methodical stroking of a woman’s genitals for 15 minutes.
As part of their employment at the Bay Area-based OneTaste, members had to engage in sexual acts with current and prospective investors, clients, employees and beneficiaries, prosecutors say.
“Daedone and Cherwitz also instructed the OneTaste members to engage in sexual acts they found uncomfortable or repulsive as a requirement to obtain ‘freedom’ and ‘enlightenment’ and demonstrate their commitment to OneTaste and Daedone,” the indictment says.
OneTaste, which Daedone founded in 2004, hosted coaching and events where the cost to enroll ranged from hundreds to tens of thousands of dollars each. From its roots in California’s tech hub, the operation spread across the globe, reaching New York City, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, London and other cities. It received celebrity endorsements from Khloe Kardashian and Gwenyth Paltrow.
Daedone and Cherwitz are accused of intentionally recruiting and grooming people who suffered past trauma and touted their teachings as a way to heal sexual trauma and dysfunction. Members went into debt if they couldn’t pay, and the government says OneTaste leaders helped them take out new credit cards to pay their bills in some cases.
Employees were also promised wages and commissions that Daedone and Cherwitz later declined to pay, and their employment status or location could change without notice — part of the scheme to render them reliant on OneTaste and under its leaders’ control, according to the government.
“Resistance to the directives of the defendants was not tolerated. The defendants Nicole Daedone and Rachel Cherwitz subjected the OneTaste members to public shame, humiliation and workplace retaliation if they failed to adhere to the defendants’ directives,” the indictment says.
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