Baltimore Post Examiner
BY ANTHONY C. HAYES
In the dark world of kink, clear parameters must be agreed upon by all parties involved before entering a scenario in their sadomasochistic sex play. But what happens when something goes “very wrong” and one or more parties feel they have been injured? Can one lawfully allege in an online forum that they have been sexually assaulted without ever filing a police report? What is the responsibility of the kink community in rightly dividing fact from fiction when a charge against one of its members has been made? And when does consensual sex between adults playing out an erotic fantasy cross that knotty line and become a “consent violation”?
These are prickly questions the U. S. District Court in Baltimore may be obliged to decide if a lawsuit now in the legal system ever sees its way to trial.
The lawsuit in this unusual case was filed May 17 – not by the alleged victim of the assault – but by the man she maintains committed a consent violation. He, in response to her online accusations, is claiming defamation of character and seeking compensation to the tune of $1.5 million.
Troubling to many in the highly secretive kink community is the names of both the plaintiff (Brett Wade of Baltimore) and the defendant (Erin Chaney Foster of Albuquerque, New Mexico) are now a matter of public record. But the case also is sending shockwaves throughout the greater burlesque community as Foster’s stage name – Sophia Sunday – also has been cited as her alias in the lawsuit.
In a 12-page complaint, obtained by the Baltimore Post-Examiner, Wade vehemently maintains the alleged consent violation against Sunday never took place. Wade lays out a nearly year-long timeline, in which he says a “deep relationship” with Sunday developed. This deep relationship, he says, included “sexual activities other than intercourse.”
Wade also states in the complaint that he believes the story Sunday tells of the alleged consent violation was wholly contrived to cover an embarrassing marital infidelity.
Because of the sensitive nature surrounding sexual assault cases, the Baltimore Post-Examiner would not normally use the names of either the alleged victim(s) or alleged perpetrator(s) in a story. But because they themselves thrust their names into the public record – the Post-Examiner has lifted that cloak.
The bones of the case, as presented in the plaintiff’s complaint, are as follows:
Wade and Sunday are both active in an alternative lifestyle known as the “Kink Community.” On the evening of July 20, 2016, Sunday had dinner with Wade and his polyamorous family at a restaurant in Baltimore. After dinner, at which two to three glasses of wine were consumed by each member of the party, Sunday said she did not want to drive. Wade and his family offered to have her stay at their Baltimore home. During the course of the evening, Sunday, Wade, and his wife engaged in “rope-play.” Sunday then spent the remainder of the night with Wade and his family – sharing a bed with Wade, his wife, and Wade’s (unnamed) polyamourous partner.
Two weeks later, on or about August 5, 2016, Wade was informed by a leader in the kink community that Sunday had accused him of assault on the night of July 20, 2016. About ten days later, Sunday proceeded to post comments about Wade on FetLife under the title heading “Consent Violation”. (FetLife is a social network for the BDSM, fetish & kink community.)
Sunday wrote on FetLife that she could not have consented because of her state of intoxication during the rope-play. Both Wade and his wife maintain that all of the play that night was consensual.
At no place in the defamation complaint is the exact nature of the alleged assault ever specified.
To clarify some of the facts surrounding this case, the Post-Examiner endeavored to reach out to Wade and Sunday, and the attorneys representing them.
Sunday is being defended by Matthew B. Kaplan of Arlington, Virginia. Wade is being represented by Marc A. Ominsky of Columbia, Maryland.
As of press time, the Post-Examiner was unable to reach Sunday. But her attorney spoke on her behalf.
Kaplan told the Baltimore Post-Examiner that he could not be specific at this time about the alleged violation or answer particular questions about discovery issues. Even so, Kaplan noted that Wade admits he has been accused of sexually assaulting Sunday. …