They Promised ‘Orgasmic Meditation’ That Would Empower Women. Now They’re on Trial — and Possibly Facing 20 Years in Prison

• Opening statements in the federal trial of the founders of the controversial wellness company OneTaste began Tuesday, May 6, in Brooklyn, N.Y.
• Nicole Daedone, 57, the company’s co-founder and former chief executive, and Rachel Cherwitz, 44, its former head of sales, are charged with one count of forced labor conspiracy
• Prosecutors allege they forced their employees and others to work for menial wages, live in communal housing and have sex with investors

The founders of a controversial sexual wellness education company built around the practice of “orgasmic meditation” are on trial in federal court after being accused of manipulating vulnerable women into working for menial wages and engaging in sex acts with investors, prosecutors allege.

In June 2023, Nicole Daedone, 57, the co-founder and former chief executive of OneTaste, and Rachel Cherwitz, 44, its former head of sales, were each charged with one count of forced labor conspiracy after employees and others accused them of abusing them, according to the federal indictment.

“Under the guise of empowerment and wellness, the defendants are alleged to have sought complete control over their employees’ lives, including by driving them into debt and directing them to perform sexual acts while also withholding wages,”  former U.S. Attorney Breon Peace said in a release at the time.

The women were subjected to “economic, sexual, emotional and psychological abuse, surveillance, indoctrination, and intimidation,” the indictment alleges.

Both women pleaded not guilty and have steadfastly maintained their innocence.

In opening arguments on Tuesday, May 6, in Brooklyn federal court,  Sean Fern, Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, said, “The victims came to OneTaste seeking personal growth. They left as shells of their former selves,” Courthouse News Service reports.

“And what did the defendants get out of this? Power, prestige and money.” 

Started by Daedone in 2004 in San Francisco, Calif., OneTaste’s aim was to help promote female empowerment by teaching women to focus on their own sexual pleasure.

A longtime practitioner of Buddhism, Daedone came up with a “scientific-based practice with proven benefits” in which a woman is sexually stimulated for 15 minutes.

“It was like yoga with a twist,” Jennifer Bonjean, Daedone’s attorney, said in her opening statement, The New York Times reports.

From 2004 through 2018, OneTaste “generated revenue by providing courses, coaching and events related to so-called wellness practices, in exchange for a fee,” prosecutors alleged in the indictment.

At various points in time, OneTaste did business in New York City, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Austin and London.

The practice had a celebrity following including Gwyneth Paltrow and Khloe Kardashian.

Daedone sold OneTaste in 2017 for $12 million, according to Courthouse News Service.

In court, prosecutors alleged the company’s leaders lured survivors of sexual trauma and other vulnerable women to work for them and take part in the company’s activities, The New York Times reports.

Prosecutors allege the company’s leaders began controlling victims’ lives by withholding pay or offering very little to cook, clean, and garden — forcing them into debt and manipulating them into performing sex acts on investors and clients.

All of this is false, lawyers for the women argue.

No one was forced to take part in any of these activities, Bonjean said.

The alleged victims, she claims, actually regretted the sexual activity they consented to and turned around and claimed they were made to do it, the Times reports.

“That’s not force, that’s not coercion,” Ms. Bonjean said. “It may even be growth.”

In a previous interview with The New York Times, Daedone called the accusations “a narrative shaped by the media and adopted by the government.”

A spokesman for the defense tells PEOPLE, “This case never should have been brought. OneTaste was always about empowerment, consent, and healing.

Calling this a “case stitched together with sensationalism and retroactive reinterpretation of adult choices,” he says,  “We’re confident the facts will speak for themselves in court.”

The women face up to 20 years in prison if convicted.