Founder of sex-commune OneTaste, which has Santa Rosa address and ties to Mendocino County retreat, surrenders in federal court

The founder of a sexual-wellness company with ties to the North Coast turned herself in at a New York City federal courthouse Tuesday, a week after being indicted on forced labor charges.

Nicole Daedone, who until 2017 served as the CEO of OneTaste — known for promoting “orgasmic meditation” and the subject of a 2022 Netflix documentary — is accused of conspiring to profit from a cult-like operation that took advantage of its employees and volunteers.

The abuse, federal prosecutors say, was multi-fold: economic, sexual, emotional and psychological. It also included surveillance, indoctrination, and intimidation, according to court records.

OneTaste’s former head of sales, Rachel Cherwitz, also was indicted June 6 on the same charges. Cherwitz, who lives in Philo, Mendocino County, was released on $100,000 bail after appearing in a federal court in San Francisco last week. She is scheduled to appear in federal court in New York City next week.

Daedone appeared in court in Brooklyn on Tuesday afternoon, where her attorney entered a not guilty plea on her behalf, according to a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Eastern District of New York.

Her attorney could not be reached for comment Tuesday afternoon.

Neither of the women remain connected to OneTaste, which has a business address in Santa Rosa and is tied with a retreat center in Philo that is owned by one of the OneTaste co-owners.

That three-member ownership group contends the charges against Daedone and Cherwitz are “unfounded” and the cloud over OneTaste unwarranted.

“We have cooperated with the (Eastern District of New York) throughout the investigation,” OneTaste owners Anjuli Ayer, Amanda Dunham and Austin Ayer wrote in a letter posted on the company’s website.

The charges against Daedone, they contend, stem from what they called an “error-riddled” Bloomberg Businessweek article.

“We are appalled by the outcome of what seems to be a long-term, misogynistic endeavor designed to tear down a feminine empowerment project and the women who built it,” the owners wrote in the posted letter.

Federal prosecutors asked Magistrate Judge Diane Gujarati to grant a “substantial bond secured by property with an equity value of approximately $1 million” because Daedone was considered a flight risk, according to a letter filed in court Tuesday by Eastern District U.S. Attorney Breon Peace detailing requested conditions for release.

The request was granted and Daedone was released Tuesday on a $1 million bond. The prosecutor’s letter details many of the allegations made in last week’s indictment.

It states that “OneTaste was best known for offering “hands-on classes on ‘orgasmic meditation’ (’OM’), a partnered practice typically involving the methodical stroking of a woman’s genitals for a period of fifteen minutes. OneTaste generated revenue by providing courses, coaching and events related to OM and other wellness practices, in exchange for a fee. Many OneTaste members lived in residential warehouses where they participated in OM courses and experimented sexually.”

The U.S. Attorney’s Office has accused Daedone and Cherwitz of promoting a “philosophy and ethos” centered on the worship of “orgasm,” with Daedone playing a key role. Prosecutors claim that after securing OneTaste members’ allegiance, Daedone and Cherwitz engaged in abusive employment practices, including failing to pay OneTaste members wages they had been promised.

“Cherwitz, Daedone, and other leaders in the OneTaste community demanded absolute commitment to Daedone, including by exalting Daedone’s teachings and ideology,” Peace said in the letter.

Federal prosecutors said Daedone and Cherwitz targeted prospective customers who had suffered prior trauma, claiming that OneTaste’s courses and teachings could heal past sexual trauma and dysfunction.

“If the members could not afford the courses — which ranged from hundreds to tens of thousands of dollars each — Cherwitz, together with others, induced the OneTaste members to incur debt, and at times directly assisted the OneTaste members in opening new credit cards, to pay for them,” Peace said in the letter.

As recently as March, OneTaste advertised on its Instagram account its retreat center The Eros Monastery at The Land in Philo. Amanda Dunham, one of the three current OneTaste owners, is listed as CEO of The Land Sanctuary, Inc., according to records filed with the California Secretary of State’s Office.

Dunham, reached Tuesday by The Press Democrat, said she purchased the retreat center in November 2020.

“My vision for The Land has always been separate but connected to my passion for the teachings of OneTaste, of which I am a co-owner,” she wrote in an email. “I have always wanted to create a space for people to come and reflect, restore, and contribute to something greater than themselves.

“The Land is open to private events of all kinds, and anybody who wants to experience a retreat, with or without anything to do with OneTaste," she wrote.

On its website OneTaste lists its business location as a 4th Street address in Santa Rosa that is a mail center.

There is no phone number listed on OneTaste’s website. An email message sent by a Press Democrat reporter was not returned Tuesday.

Staff Writer Marisa Endicott contributed to this story. You can reach Staff Writer Martin Espinoza at 707-521-5213 or martin.espinoza@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @pressreno.