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Prosecutors say OneTaste extracted labor from its members. Former employees testified that they worked for the company because they feared spiritual harm.

The women arrived with dreams of rebirth, community and climax. Instead, they said, their twenties were ruined by working at OneTaste, a buzzy San Francisco company that billed itself as a health and education start-up promoting female empowerment via “orgasmic meditation.”

They came to see OneTaste as a cult, but the prosecution of two of its leaders will decide whether they were coerced into working for the company or simply deluded by its teachings.

The question is central to the federal case against Nicole Daedone, OneTaste’s founder and former chief executive, and Rachel Cherwitz, its former head of sales, who have each been charged with one count of forced labor conspiracy. The charge carries a sentence of up to 20 years in prison.

Prosecutors say Ms. Daedone and Ms. Cherwitz deployed “psychological

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