Founder, top executive of OneTaste, sexual wellness company with Mendocino County retreat center, indicted on forced sex labor charges
The founder and a top officer of a San Francisco-based commune and sexual wellness company that promoted “orgasmic meditation,” before questions of abuse began to circulate, were indicted Tuesday on charges of forced labor conspiracy by federal prosecutors in Brooklyn, New York.
Nicole Daedone, who founded OneTaste in 2004 and served as its CEO until 2017, and Rachel Cherwitz, the former head of sales at the company from 2009-2018, engaged in what prosecutors said was a yearslong scheme “to obtain the labor and services” of volunteers, contractors and employees by subjecting them to “economic, sexual, emotional and psychological abuse, surveillance, indoctrination and intimidation.”
Cherwitz, who lives in Philo, was arrested Tuesday and was expected to appear in federal court in California on Wednesday. Daedone, who lives in San Diego, was still at large as of Tuesday afternoon. If convicted, the two women would face a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. Calls to the women’s attorneys were not immediately returned Tuesday afternoon.
The company, which grew in popularity for its focus on female sexuality and by providing courses, coaching and events around the topic, gained notoriety for its practice of orgasmic meditation. The ritual was described in a New York Times article from 2009 as involving about a dozen women, naked from the waist down, lying with their eyes closed in a velvet-curtained room while clothed men huddled over them, stroking them ritualistically.
At the time, Daedone said she saw herself as the leader of “the slow-sex movement,” where the emphasis is placed on women’s pleasure.
Over the years, the company had operations across the country in New York City; Denver; Las Vegas; Austin, Texas; Los Angeles and even London, prosecutors said. Cherwitz told the Times that she commuted to offer private lessons at the commune’s New York City outpost, where many of her clients were married Orthodox Jewish couples from Brooklyn.
A website for OneTaste lists a Santa Rosa address as its sole location, but it is likely a mailing address. One of the company’s retreat centers was in the Mendocino County community of Philo.
But as the group and Daedone’s teachings became more well known, former members began telling about a darker side to the organization. In a Bloomberg Businessweek investigation published in 2018, some former members detailed how the company led them into what they said was sexual servitude and debt. A 2022 documentary on Netflix examined the company’s rise and the allegations it faced.
Between 2006 and 2018, according to prosecutors, Daedone and Cherwitz targeted vulnerable people by advertising that the teachings of OneTaste could heal sexual trauma and dysfunction. Members who couldn’t afford the courses, which could cost thousands of dollars, would be induced to take on debt, prosecutors said.
The two leaders’ manipulation and control went further, according to the indictment unsealed Tuesday.
The women subjected members to “constant surveillance in communal homes and collected deeply sensitive and personal information about them which the defendants then used to render the OneTaste members emotionally, socially and psychologically dependent on OneTaste,” prosecutors said.
The group also demanded “absolute commitment” to Daedone, prosecutors said. The two women, along with others, pressed members to engage in sexual acts, even ones they found uncomfortable or repulsive, as a “requirement to obtain ‘freedom’ and ‘enlightenment’ and demonstrate their commitment,” prosecutors said.
And after promising to pay members for work, the leaders would later not pay them or would change members’ employment status or location without notice to exert control, prosecutors said.
If members did not follow the directions of the two women, they would deploy “public shame, humiliation and workplace retaliation.” They would also harass, coerce and intimidate anyone who they believed to be their enemies or critics, prosecutors said.
The Bloomberg report five years ago, which included information from 16 former staffers and members, found issues similar to those detailed by prosecutors in the indictment.
Former members told the outlet that OneTaste “resembled a kind of prostitution ring” where victims of trauma were exploited. Cherwitz was a “top lieutenant” during her time with the organization, Bloomberg found, and leaders ordered staffers to “have sex or OM with each other or with customers.”
In addition to the sexual pressures, the report also found that students and members were financially manipulated.
In a statement Tuesday afternoon, OneTaste’s current CEO, Anjuli Ayer, criticized the reporting and the indictment, saying Tuesday’s charges were based on “unfounded allegations.”
“Given OneTaste’s culture of individual empowerment, choice and consent, this is completely unjustified,” she said. The practice of orgasmic meditation, she said, has been “misunderstood and maligned” and the organization remains “undeterred.”
‘Messianic’ San Francisco guru who founded ‘orgasmic meditation cult’ OneTaste surrenders to cops in NYC after being charged with keeping women in ‘residential warehouses’ where they were forced into sex acts
Nicole Daedone, former CEO of ‘sexual wellness’ company OneTaste, turned herself into the Brooklyn Federal Court Tuesday morning. The 56-year-old is set to be arraigned this afternoon, according to the US Attorney’s Office. Daedone founded the San Francisco-based firm in 2004 and it soon became renowned for orgasmic meditation (OM) which promised to help clients ‘reclaim their sexuality.’ But last week Daedone and her top lieutenant Rachel Cherwitz, 43, were hit with a federal indictment which accused them of forcing volunteers, contractors, and employees into sex acts using cult-like tactics. The pair are charged with conspiracy to violate federal laws prohibiting the use of forced labor. Prosecutors say the alleged victims were kept under surveillance and made dependent on Daedone and Cherwitz for shelter and basic necessities.
DAVID MARCUS: After THAT indictment, read the full jaw-dropping story of the $10M Biden/Ukraine bribery claims and wonder – why don’t the Feds care about scandalous allegations that would have eaten Trump alive?
MARCUS: With indictment news flying around the media like crack rocks at a Hunter Biden slumber party, one would be excused for failing to follow the biggest news out of the nation’s capital this week. After all, for the first time in history, a former president and current White House hopeful has been charged with federal crimes. Sure, it’s a big deal. But there’s another story to watch – one that Democrats are working overtime to sweep under the rug. On Thursday, the FBI begrudgingly delivered to Congress a document that, Republicans say, reveals the testimony of a ‘trusted’ and ‘highly credible’ informant, who alleges that President Joe Biden is tied to a ‘criminal bribery scheme’ involving the Ukrainian gas company Burisma. You remember Burisma.
EXCLUSIVE: Hunter Biden laid BARE! Nearly 9,000 photos from his laptop are published by right wing group Marco Polo – a bizarre mix of the First Son taking drugs, frolicking naked with prostitutes and fetching family snaps
- Right wing nonprofit Marco Polo posted 8,864 pictures on bidenlaptopmedia.com that include hundreds of images of Hunter Biden taking drugs and having sex with prostitutes
- The photos came from Hunter’s abandoned laptop and along with the lewd images include sweet family photos of Hunter with his dad Joe and the rest of the Biden clan
- The images are dated between 2008 and 2019 and have geographic locations in Hawaii, Cabo San Lucas, Kosovo, China, London, Paris, Rome and more
Almost 9,000 photos from Hunter Biden‘s laptop have been published online by right wing nonprofit Marco Polo. The Biden Family are, clearly, the biggest grifters, scammers, liars and corruption family in history.
The 8,864 pictures posted on bidenlaptopmedia.com include hundreds of images of the First Son taking drugs and having sex with prostitutes, as well as family photos and everyday snaps.
The photos include 7,032 mostly from Hunter’s MacBook Pro iPhoto app, 1,832 from a backup of his iPhone XS, 428 ‘live photos’ (short videos taken on an iPhone), 674 images sent in text messages, 579 screenshots, 40 sent via WhatsApp, and 111 others.
The images are dated between 2008 and 2019. Some have geographic coordinates attached, showing Hunter took photos in Hawaii, Cabo San Lucas, Kosovo, the Dominican Republic, western China, London, Paris, Rome, Belgrade and across the US.
All photos seen by DailyMail.com match photos from a copy of Hunter Biden’s laptop obtained by DailyMail.com and authenticated by cyber forensics experts in early 2021.
Right wing nonprofit Marco Polo posted 8,864 pictures on bidenlaptopmedia.com that include hundreds of images of Hunter Biden taking drugs and having sex with prostitutes. Hunter is pictured holding up what appears to be a smoking pen with marijuana oil inside
The photos include 7,032 mostly from Hunter’s MacBook Pro iPhoto app, 1,832 from a backup of his iPhone XS, 428 ‘live photos’ (short videos taken on an iPhone), 674 images sent in text messages, 579 screenshots, 40 sent via WhatsApp, and 111 others
Another photo shows Hunter in foreground while one woman lays on the bed in the background and another stands. Some of the photos from the laptop have geographic coordinates attached, showing Hunter took photos in Hawaii, Cabo San Lucas, Kosovo, the Dominican Republic, western China, London, Paris, Rome, Belgrade and across the US
The photos came from Hunter’s abandoned laptop and along with the lewd images include sweet family photos of Hunter with his dad Joe and the rest of the Biden clan. The family is pictured at the Colosseum in Rome in this undated photo
The picture dump may still come as a shock to the Bidens, as they include photos of family members as minors and others in intimate moments. Beau, a young Ashley, Joe, Jill and Hunter and pictured in this undated photo
Marco Polo redacted the most explicit nudity in the shocking photos, as well as account numbers on bank statements, credit card and social security numbers, and other sensitive information.
Marco Polo was founded by former Trump White House staffer Garrett Ziegler, 28, and describes itself as ‘a nonprofit research group exposing corruption & blackmail’
But the picture dump may still come as a shock to the Bidens, as they include photos of family members as minors, and others in intimate moments.
Marco Polo was founded by former Trump White House staffer Garrett Ziegler, 28, and describes itself as ‘a nonprofit research group exposing corruption & blackmail’.
‘If the American people want to know what their first family is like, they’re going to get it. And we’re not going to be taking out photos that paint the Bidens in a good light,’ Ziegler said.
But he added that it took around two months to ‘redact the genitalia’ in all the pictures.
Ziegler said that the trove his organization uploaded last week contains ‘98% of the photos on the device’, after removing some images such as ‘screenshots of Candy Crush games’.
The ex-Trump staffer’s provocative publications have also included a 645-page report on Marco Polo’s investigation into the contents of Hunter’s laptop, published last fall.
The incendiary report accused Hunter of 459 crimes including prostitution offenses, distribution and possession of drugs, defrauding government agencies, illegal foreign lobbying and money laundering.
It also used emails and other documents from the laptop to claim that President Joe Biden was complicit in tax evasion, violated the Presidential Records Act, and used nonpublic information for financial gain in six incidents from June 2010 to December 2016.
Ziegler has also published more than 120,000 emails from the laptop on his website, BidenLaptopEmails.com, as well as transcribing and publishing pages from Hunter’s sister Ashley Biden’s diary.
Ziegler drew the wrath of Hunter’s lawyers after a Marco Polo operative posed as a potential ally to the First Son’s criminal defense team in a text conversation with Hunter’s Hollywood lawyer Kevin Morris.
Hunter poses for photos at a hotel with a woman his text messages indicate is a prostitute. Ziegler said that it took around two months to ‘redact the genitalia’ in all of Hunter’s pictures
Hunter spent a total of 17,846.40 at fine Italian clothing store Riflessi in New York City in 2018, according to a photo of a receipt found on his laptop
All photos seen by DailyMail.com appear to match photos from a copy of Hunter Biden’s laptop obtained by DailyMail.com and authenticated by cyber forensics experts in early 2021
One photo was taken from behind the driver’s seat of a Porsche, speeding down a highway at 172mph
This photo shows Hunter on Facetime with his late brother’s widow Hallie Biden, with whom he had an affair
When Morris learned the trickster was in fact from Marco Polo, he called the member a ‘f***ing moron,’ said ‘I’m going to take all your money’ and ‘I know where you live’.
Another text said, ‘You’re going to enjoy being a buttboy for 20 years dude. Lube up’ and ‘I’m coming to get you’.
Ziegler drew the wrath of Hunter’s lawyers after a Marco Polo operative posed as a potential ally to the First Son’s criminal defense team in a text conversation with Hunter’s Hollywood lawyer Kevin Morris (pictured)
Morris sued Ziegler and his charity in a Los Angeles court in April for alleged harassment, invasion of privacy and ‘criminal impersonation’.
The complaint calls the 27-year-old, ‘a right-wing extremist and provocateur who has made a reputation harassing people connected to President Joe Biden or his son, Hunter Biden.’
Morris accuses Ziegler of posting his personal data including property addresses and phone numbers on social media, orchestrating a ‘harassment campaign’, and ‘posting picture[s] of Morris’ family members on [Marco Polo’s] social media channels while making derogatory comments about them.’
He claims ‘several of the right-wing extremists who follow Ziegler on social media and the Website made veiled threats of violence against Morris, called Morris, and even drove by Morris’ property.’
In a statement, Ziegler told DailyMail.com the lawsuit was ‘utterly ridiculous’ and ‘false’.
To the fury of Hunter’s legal team, Ziegler has also been hired as an expert on Hunter’s laptop by a lawyer for Lunden Roberts, the mother of Hunter’s child, in her courtroom wrangle over how much child support he should pay for their four-year-old daughter, Navy Joan Roberts.
Roberts’s Arkansas attorney, Clint Lancaster, hired Ziegler to help unpick Hunter’s finances and help her argue for more money from the First Son – who at first denied Navy was his, until a paternity test proved it.
Hunter’s lawyer in the child support case, Brent Langdon, argued that Ziegler had ‘no work experience as an accountant or finance expert of any kind’ and posed a ‘security and confidentiality risk’ if given Hunter’s confidential financial documents and tax filings.
A much younger Hunter and brother Beau Biden are pictured in an undated photo stored on Hunter’s laptop. Beau died at age 46 from brain cancer in 2015
This undated photo of a younger Hunter and Beau is one of nearly 9,000 photos recovered from Hunter’s abandoned laptop and published online
A family photo of Hunter Biden, his and his late brother’s kids, sister Ashley and parents Joe and Jill was obtained from his laptop
One photo shows Hunter posing in a hotel room with a woman for a mirror selfie. The images from his laptop are dated between 2008 and 2019
Hunter’s legal team have also demanded that Congress launch an investigation into how Marco Polo obtained Treasury Department Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs), part of the evidence Republican lawmakers are using for their probes into alleged corruption in the Biden family.
The First Son’s hotshot lawyer Abbe Lowell wrote to the House Ethics Committee and Treasury Department’s Office of Inspector General in April asking for the former White House staffer to be investigated for allegedly breaking banking laws by publishing the confidential reports.
‘Ziegler has used Mr. Biden’s SARs and other financial records to craft a false narrative that Mr. Biden is associated with a human trafficking ring,’ the letter said.
‘In his persistent and continued broadcast of this fictitious tale, Ziegler has called upon House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer to disseminate Mr. Biden’s private information to an even wider audience.’
Some of the SARs, generated by JP Morgan bank, detail money flowing to accounts associated with Hunter and other Biden family members, stemming from his business deals with Ukrainian and Chinese companies.
Others SARs say Hunter made payments of thousands of dollars to suspected prostitutes and pimps.
Warning that drinking ANY amount of alcohol may raise risk of 60 diseases – including 33 that had never been linked to booze before
Oxford University researchers, who looked at data on half a million men in China, found that drinking alcohol can raise the chances of developing gout, cataracts and fractures.
JP Morgan agrees to pay Epstein victims $290million in class action lawsuit after it continued to do business with him after his pedophile conviction and despite labeling him ‘high risk’
The bank announced the settlement on Monday. The lawsuit was filed by one woman on behalf of herself and other Epstein victims. As many as 100 can stake claim to the settlement.
Gavin Newsom admits California’s homeless situation IS out of control as hotels and shopping malls abandon San Francisco and encampments blight San Diego
Democratic governor Gavin Newsom has admitted that California’s homelessness crisis is ‘a disgrace’ – but tried to blame Republicans for creating the situation. The Golden State is facing an opioid-fueled vagrancy crisis, with cities such as San Francisco and San Diego besieged with encampments and businesses shutting up shop. Newsom was grilled on the subject by Fox News host Sean Hannity after the latest blow to San Francisco’s downtown as Westfield stopped making mortgage payments on its massive mall due to crime and tanking sales.
Secretive all-male hooker-laden summer camp for the elite – whose members are Fortune500 owners and powerful government figures – is sued by three valets claiming they were forced to endure horrific working conditions
Exclusive elite club Bohemian Grove, one of the most secretive societies in America, is facing a bombshell lawsuit from former staff alleging a series of shocking labor law violations. The world’s elite have habitually gathered at the lavish California club’s summer camp for over 150 years, where the cloak-and-dagger retreat’s true colors have been shrouded in secrecy. Now, decades-old questions over the club’s practices may be answered with the new lawsuit. Three valets who worked at the Bohemian Grove estate during its infamous summer camp now claim they were forced to work ‘nonstop’ 16-hour shifts, during which they were allegedly not given bathroom or lunch breaks. Despite its lucrative membership, the club also allegedly failed to pay its staff minimum wage and overtime.
