How an ‘Orgasmic Meditation’ Company Landed its Founder in Prison

In June 2025, two women leading a San Francisco-based “orgasmic meditation” startup were convicted in federal court of forced labor conspiracy for coercing employees to perform sex acts on investors and other group members for little to no pay. 

The next year, OneTaste founder and former Chief Operating Officer Nicole Daedone was sentenced to nine years in prison. The court also imposed upon her a $12 million forfeiture money judgment—the amount Daedone had earned selling her stake of the company in March 2017.

Rachel Cherwitz, the company’s former Head of Sales, was sentenced to six and a half years for her part in the operation.

In a press release following the March 2026 sentencing, Joseph Nocella, Jr., United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, said the women “used psychological, emotional and financial coercion” and that “those who exploit others through such means will face serious consequences.”

Daedone previously told NBC News that the company is “rooted 100% in consent,” and her attorney has indicated that she plans to appeal the conviction. OneTaste has sought legal counsel from Alan Dershowitz—a defense attorney who has used his connection to President Donald Trump to secure pardons for clients in the past. Anjuli Ayer, the current CEO of OneTaste, now known as Om, likened the prosecution to the Salem Witch trials, describing it as “thought crime.” 

OneTaste described itself as a “sexual wellness” group, Ellen Huet, a reporter whose book Empire of Orgasm covers the rise and fall of OneTaste, tells A&E Crime + Investigation. She says the core tenet of the group was orgasmic meditation, which is “a 15-minute partnered meditative clitoral stroking practice.”

Huet explains that the “stroker” (usually male) would touch the “strokee” several times a day—twice in the morning, and twice more in the evening. Participants were “encouraged to do this with people they didn’t have preexisting relationships with,” Huet says. “They framed it as a spiritual practice.” 

Huet adds that the group came to be in the early 2000s, in a way that was “well-timed” with other business trends coursing through Silicon Valley.

“This was the Girl Boss She-E-O era,” Huet says, noting that although Daedone didn’t introduce orgasmic meditation to the Bay Area, the predecessor groups had been run by men. The fact that Daedone was a female figurehead likely helped sell it to more adherents and make the practice mainstream.

At its peak, the group’s primary source of revenue was a series of courses, Huet says, which started weekend classes costing $500 and escalated to a $60,000 yearly membership. OneTaste claimed that its practice could help heal past sexual trauma and dysfunction.

The company was initially supported by an investor, Reese Jones, who had been romantically involved with Daedone. 

At trial, prosecutors alleged that Daedone and Cherwitz used a variety of tools—both financial and psychological—to get members to perform sexual favors for high value donors such as Jones, who had invested at least $800,000 into the company, according to the government’s sentencing memorandum. 

The women assigned “handlers” to Jones, who were tasked with sexually servicing him every day, according to the memo. One was also asked explicitly about her sexual skills when interviewing for an assistant position at OneTaste.

Other group members had financial debt leveraged against them, such as Rebecca Halpern, a member who claims she signed up for a $12,000 course and then was put on a payment plan wherein she worked off the debt directly with the organization. OneTaste members were asked to work long hours—often seven days per week—with little or no compensation, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

But for the most part, Huet claims the coercion was psychological. Members were told to abide by “aversion practice,” where sex acts that a member felt disinclined to do were ostensibly good for them because it led the participant closer to “sexual enlightenment." 

Steven Hassan, a mental health professional who specializes in cults, tells A&E Crime + Investigation that sex cults are extremely powerful at influencing human behavior, in part because sex itself is so personal.

“When you’re changing the behavior at such a core level as having coitus and orgasms with other people, you can have a level of influence that can be incredibly deep,” Hassan says. “If you can get someone to change their behavior, it automatically starts shifting their beliefs, their feelings, and can later change identity.”

Huet describes OneTaste’s membership as surprisingly diverse, with “spiritual seeker types” of all ages joining; membership included plenty of men and women who may have been hoping to boost their own sexual performance and gratification through the help of a guru.

“I think wanting to enrich your intimate relationships is a universal thing,” Huet says.

Hassan adds that “a lot of the people who get radicalized are on the neuro atypical spectrum,” noting that there are also situational vulnerabilities that might make someone temporarily more susceptible to joining a group like OneTaste, such as “death of a loved one, a major illness, graduation” and “stressful transitions that are disorienting, where you might be more susceptible to a stranger.”

But perhaps the biggest issue, Hassan says, is overconfidence. 

“Most people think it could never happen to them,” he says. “They’re too smart, too educated, too wise. And that arrogance is the biggest vulnerability.”