Former OneTaste worker testifies she was sexually exploited

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A former employee of a wellness company said she was expected to pleasure herself on command with anybody who walked in the door.

“I had to be turned on at all times,” testified Becky, whose full name is being withheld, at the trial of OneTaste founder Nicole Daedone and former head of sales Rachel Cherwitz, reports the New York Post.

The alleged victim, who was 23 at the time, claimed that it “was really frowned upon to say you weren’t in the mood.”

Daedone and Cherwitz are on trial in New York City after pleading not guilty to a charge of forced labour conspiracy.

The alleged sex cult OneTaste was launched by Daedone in San Francisco in 2004 as a business that taught orgasmic meditation (OM).

The company grew and hosted coaching and events in New York City, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, London, and other cities.

However, prosecutors allege that OneTaste’s leaders recruited victims of past trauma and forced them into sex work while earning a paltry $2,000 a month.

While employed by the company, Becky told the court that she was required to orgasm with other members of OneTaste and with potential clients.

“The expectation was I would be open to OMing with anybody off the street,” Becky, now in her late 30s, testified.

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Becky said she joined OneTaste in 2011 and, to help pay for the group’s expensive lessons which put her between $15,000 and $20,000 in debt, took a job in sales for the company the following year.

“I was the perfect mark,” she said. “That word ‘mark’ was used quite a bit for people who are easy to sell to. It comes from con artist language.”

Becky also testified that she was “young” and “idealistic” when she joined, adding she was “open to sexuality being talked about openly.”

“I was really, really lonely and I really wanted community. I was sexually confused enough that this fit all the pieces for me.”

She told the jury about her OM training, which involved a one-on-one session with a “stroker” and a “strokee.”

The “hands-on” classes involved one person rubbing the genitals of another person for 15 minutes, Becky said. They would then share their experiences with each other. There also was anal play, S&M and bondage, she added.

Becky also alleged Cherwitz suggested an OM session with an “older man, who I definitely wouldn’t ordinarily engage in sexual activity with.”

Three years later and broke, Becky said she left OneTaste.

“I came in with very little in savings and I left with absolutely nothing,” she testified.

“It’s really hard to be in this room right now,” she added.