1. Whip Appealed
2. Judge sentences three men for S&M dungeon castrations
3. 'Shakedown Slut' All Smiles
4. Case transferred to tougher court
5. Planning Commission hears Kink.com case
6. Suspect pleads not guilty in swinger-swindle case
Whip Appealed: A BDSM court case puts master/slave relationships on trial
by Tristan Taormino
The Village Voice
March 19, 2007
Shortly after Glenn Marcus and Jodi (referred to in public records by her first name only) started their master/slave relationship in 1998, he began photographing her as well as other women during BDSM scenes for a website he created called Slavespace.com. In 2001, Jodi left the relationship and asked Marcus to take her photos off the site, but he refused. Two and a half years later, she told the FBI she endured intense sadism at the hands of her master, was forced to work on his website, and felt like she couldn't leave him. The U.S. Attorney charged Marcus under three federal statutes: sex trafficking (coercing or selling a person into a situation of sexual exploitation, like prostitution or pornography); forced labor (using threats or violence to obtain labor or services); and obscenity (for the content of his website).
The prosecution offered Marcus a plea deal that included no jail time, which he declined. On March 5, 2007, he was convicted on the first two counts, but the jury ruled that the website was not obscene (a significant and surprising victory, considering it featured images of extreme activities like asphyxiation and temporary genital piercing). The majority of the press coverage focused on the salaciousness of it all ( USA Today: "He punished her by putting a ball in her mouth, closing it shut with surgical needles and hanging her on a wall"), but no one has examined if the verdict was fair or what far reaching consequences it may have for people who practice BDSM.
In court, Jodi painted a picture of a monster-master who abused her. She said she was afraid to leave because Marcus threatened to show her family the photos, an abundance of which helped illustrate her horror story-the New York Post called it "a website filled with depraved images of her bleeding and bruised body." Curiously, Jodi socialized and vacationed with Marcus several times after the break up. Marcus asserted that their master/slave dynamic, their scenes, and her work on the website was consensual; Jodi's former roommate and Marcus's ex-girlfriend, Rona, testified that nothing was done to Jodi against her will and that Marcus was "lots of fun."
I suspect it was tough for the defense to get a jury to understand such an unorthodox dynamic to begin with, let alone the difference between a healthy one and a dysfunctional one. Ideally, consensual d/s relationships are designed for both partners to get their needs met, but they can be complicated and very intense.
Much of Jodi's testimony was about being subjected to pain, punishment, and humiliation. Most people don't want to be controlled, used, hurt, tortured, or degraded, so it's hard for them to comprehend that some people want to experience sensations and emotions that are generally considered negative or painful. But successful d/s relationships are like well-choreographed dances: there is a clear leader and a clear follower and both partners get a lot out of their respective roles. The dominant provides structure and guidance, and the submissive wants to surrender control. Each person has equal power within the relationship, but the dominant has more authority. But the lines between dominance and egomaniacal control or between submission and low self-esteem can be blurry to the untrained eye. A dominant on a power trip who likes to manipulate and pray on weakness is as dangerous as a submissive who doesn't know what she wants and can't stand up for herself, and neither is fit for a d/s relationship.
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To read this entire article, go to: http://www.villagevoice.com/people/0712,taormino,76097,24.html To respond, write to: the author at tristan@puckerup.com or the editors at http://www.villagevoice.com/aboutus/index.php?page=contact
Judge sentences three men for S&M dungeon castrations
Associated Press report
via The Charleston Daily Mail (West Virginia)
March 16, 2007
WAYNESVILLE, N.C. — Three men accused of operating what police described as a sadomasochistic "dungeon'' that included castrations have been sentenced to jail time.
Richard Peter "Master Rick'' Sciara, his partner of 20 years Michael Mendez, and the man they called their slave, Danny Carroll Reeves, pleaded guilty to felony castration and maiming.
Superior Court Judge Dennis Winner said it was difficult to call the dungeon's willing patients "victims,'' but he said six castrations performed there were certainly a crime.
"I think this is a type of perversion that cannot be tolerated by society,'' Winner said during a sentencing hearing Thursday.
In plea bargains, Sciara, 62, was sentenced to a year in prison, though he has served all but two weeks of that time. Reeves, 50, was sentenced to eight months in prison, and Mendez, 61, received four months. Reeves and Mendez have already served their sentences and will enter four and two months of house arrest, respectively, and three years of supervised probation.
In exchange for the pleas, the state dropped charges of misdemeanor practicing medicine without a license and conspiracy.
Prosecutors said the men ran a sadomasochistic "dungeon'' fashioned from an enclosed carport in 2004 and 2005 at a house in a quiet neighborhood near Waynesville in western North Carolina. Six men, some from as far away as South America, came to the home for castration, while others went seeking other types of body-modification surgery, prosecutors said.
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To read this entire article, go to: http://www.dailymail.com/story/News/+/2007031672/Judge-sentences-three-men-for-S&M-dungeon-castrations To respond, write to: editor@dailymail.com
'Shakedown Slut' All Smiles
by Kieran Crowley
The New York Post
March 16, 2007
The female half of the "Horny and Clyde" sextortion scheme smirks in a Long Island courtroom yesterday as she faces additional charges that she and a con-man partner lured victims into kinky trysts and then videotaped them so they could shake them down for cash.
Shawn Payne, 34, was arraigned on a new seven-count indictment yesterday, as her lawyer Mark Gann argued she "was forced to do some of these things" by her co-defendant, Michael Largue.
A spokesman for Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice said three more female victims have come forward, raising the total number of victims to five.
Payne gave a written confession to police after her arrest, in which she said she was a dominatrix who used the online name "InControl" on sex-swinger Web sites, sources said.
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To read this entire article, go to: http://www.nypost.com/seven/03162007/news/regionalnews/shakedown_slut_all_smiles_regionalnews_kieran_crowley.htm To respond, go to: http://www.nypost.com/postopinion/letters/letters_editor.htm
Case transferred to tougher court
by John Nickerson
The Advocate (Connecticut)
March 15, 2007
NORWALK – The case of New Canaan hedge fund manager Albert Hsu, accused of seeking revenge on his former mistress by putting her name and photo on a bondage Web site and asking that someone rape her, was transferred yesterday to state Superior Court in Stamford.
Norwalk Deputy Assistant State's Attorney Ricki Goldstein asked Judge William Hickey to move the case from domestic violence court in state Superior Court in Norwalk to Part A in Stamford, where more serious crimes are heard.
Hickey granted the motion in Norwalk and scheduled Hsu's arraignment for later this month.
Hsu, 43, of 139 Beech Road, New Canaan, has remained in jail on $1 million bond since he was arrested March 2 and charged with first-degree attempted sexual assault, first-degree reckless endangerment, criminal impersonation, two counts of second-degree harassment and trafficking in personal identifying information.
The former Cub Scout leader did not address the court during his brief appearance. His Stamford attorney, Robert Bello, did not object to the transfer.
Hsu posed as his unidentified mistress on the S&M Web site collarme.com and posted a message with her photo saying that she would be a willing participant in a sexual fantasy, Goldstein said during his first appearance in court on March 5.
The fantasy involved being abducted and raped.
Hsu is no longer employed by Anchor Point Capital LLC in Coral Gables, Fla., the hedge fund he co-founded with Timothy Crowe in 2005.
In a letter sent to clients March 7, two days after Hsu's first court appearance, Crowe wrote, "Albert would not be able to carry out his business duties and, therefore, is no longer an employee of the firm."
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To read this entire article, go to: http://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/local/scn-sa-nor.hsu2mar15,0,5982283.story?coll=stam-news-local-headlines To respond, write to: letters.advocate@scni.com
Planning Commission hears Kink.com case
by Liz Highleymn
The Bay Area Reporter
March 15, 2007
Members of the local alternative sexuality and Latino communities turned out in force at City Hall last week for an informational hearing before the San Francisco Planning Commission to discuss the purchase of the long-vacant state Armory building by Kink.com, which operates a dozen bondage and fetish porn Web sites.
Kink.com CEO Peter Acworth, who started the company in 1997, purchased the building at Mission and 14th streets from the previous owner, a commercial developer, for $14.5 million in late December 2006.
Though the change of ownership was by all accounts legal, some local community members formed an opposition group, the Mission Armory Community Collective, and pressured city officials to rescind the sale.
"That is not the appropriate place for Kink.com. It's in the hub of a residential community," said MACC member Sam Ruiz. "It's not OK to promote acts of degradation and violence. We don't want that kind of stuff here."
Responding to the opposition, Mayor Gavin Newsom asked the Planning Commission to review the change of ownership. "While not wanting to be prudish, the fact that Kink.com will be located in the proximity to a number of schools give[s] us pause," he said in a press release last month.
Although the Armory building counts schools, churches, and a senior housing facility among its neighbors, the site is zoned for commercial and industrial use. Prior to the sale, zoning administrator Larry Badiner gave a letter of determination approving a request by Armory Studios LLC to use the site for "independent and NC-17 films." Though not aware at the time of the nature of the company's productions, he said that did not matter, since content was "a free-speech issue."
An overflow crowd of about 200 people attended the March 8 hearing, and 50 speakers offered public comment supporting or opposing Kink.com's purchase.
"San Francisco has a history of defending civil liberties, and venues like this are necessary to keep the fabric of the city vibrant," said Tad Glauthier, founder of Supper Club SF. "The fetish community is seen with the same level of suspicion and lack of understanding as the gay and lesbian community was 20 years ago."
Many Kink.com supporters made the point that proponents of alternative sexuality are part of the local community.
"This change is good for the Armory, good for the Mission, and good for San Francisco," said longtime Mission resident Rob Jellinghaus. "This is our city, too."
Others noted that Kink.com will give the neighborhood an economic boost, provide jobs, and bring the city much-needed tax revenue. Eventually, the company hopes to attract mainstream film production companies to rent its facilities.
"Having a responsible business versus an empty shell is a positive change for the neighborhood," said Steve Bower of the National Coalition for Sexual Freedom, an advocacy group for BDSM and polyamory aficionados.
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To read this entire article, go to: http://www.ebar.com/news/article.php?sec=news&article=1648 To respond, write to: the author at liz@black-rose.com or the editors at BARpaper@aol.com
Suspect pleads not guilty in swinger-swindle case
by Ann Givens
Newsday
March 13, 2007
Michael Largue never waited long before telling the married women he met through online swingers' Web sites that he loved them, Nassau prosecutors said.
He promised to help them escape their unhappy marriages and said he would introduce them to his friend, Shawn Payne, who was a "financial adviser," to help them break their ties, prosecutors said.
In that way, prosecutors said Largue and Payne would work their way into women's lives, then threaten to tell their families about the trysts unless the women paid them thousands of dollars. On Tuesday, Largue, 45, of Franklin Square, who was first arrested in January, pleaded not guilty to grand larceny, scheme to defraud and conspiracy. Payne is scheduled to appear in court on her own upgraded charges tomorrow.
"There is a common thread throughout all this. My client was not present," said Largue's lawyer, Michaelangelo Matera of Melville. Payne's lawyer, Marc Gann of Carle Place, has said his client was coerced by Largue.
In all, prosecutors say they have identified at least 30 possible victims — both male and female — through e-mail addresses they found in the couple's computer records.
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To read this entire article, go to: http://www.newsday.com/news/local/longisland/ny-lisex0314,0,494546.story?coll=ny-hsports-utility To respond, write to: the author at ann.givens@newsday.com or the editors at letters@newsday.com or comment at bottom of article HOW TO WRITE A LETTER TO THE EDITOR
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