Glenn Marcus: The S&M Svengali
She Goes to the FBI
Jodi, who'd managed to mostly extricate herself from the relationship by this time, asked Marcus to remove the legions of photographs of her in compromising positions, all of which very clearly showed her face. She was trying to to restart her life and get into a new career.
When Marcus refused, claiming she had signed model release forms — a claim complex enough to prevent it from being an open and shut case — she went to the F.B.I.
In 2000, a new law cracking down on sexual exploitation was passed, the Trafficking Victims Protection Act. The FBI acted swiftly: Marcus' websites were taken down and he was charged with sex trafficking, distribution of obscene materials (via his website), and forced labor, for the time period between 1999 and 2001.
During the first trial in Brooklyn, the defense hinged on a key question: Had Jodi really been doing things against her will? After all, she had continued to associate with the S and M Svengali.
Tristan Taormino, a noted expert on the BDSM community wrote in The Village Voice, "It's possible that she regretted her participation and re-wrote her role into an unwilling victim, but it's equally likely that Marcus lost touch with reality, believed he actually owned her, and behaved accordingly."