## Facts

- Glenn Marcus met the complaining witness online; she initially entered a consensual BDSM relationship with him and later lived in a residence associated with Marcus and other women described as his “slaves.”
- The witness testified that after she sought to leave, Marcus used physical abuse, threats, and coercive control to keep her with him against her will for nearly two years.
- During that period, she testified that she created and maintained Marcus’s website and performed other services under coercion.
- She also testified that Marcus compelled her to participate in sexually explicit conduct that was photographed and posted on the website.
- The government presented the case as forced labor and sex trafficking under the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA), relying on a theory of commercial exploitation through online pornographic content.
- After trial, the jury convicted Marcus of sex trafficking (18 U.S.C. § 1591) and forced labor (18 U.S.C. § 1589), acquitted him of transmitting obscene materials (18 U.S.C. § 1462), and found an aggravated sexual abuse factor tied to the forced-labor count.
- Marcus moved for judgment of acquittal under Rule 29 and, alternatively, for a new trial under Rule 33.

## Issues

1. Whether the TVPA applies to conduct occurring within an intimate, domestic relationship that began as consensual BDSM.
2. Whether a “commercial sex act” under 18 U.S.C. § 1591 includes sexual activity photographed and monetized through online pornography, rather than prostitution-type transactions.
3. Whether the evidence was sufficient to permit a reasonable jury to find the required nexus between coercion and (a) commercial sex acts under § 1591 and (b) labor or services under § 1589.
4. Whether the jury had to be instructed that the “dominant purpose” of the defendant’s coercion was to obtain labor/services or commercial sex acts.

## Decision

- The court denied the Rule 29 motion for judgment of acquittal on the sex-trafficking and forced-labor convictions.
- The court denied the Rule 33 motion for a new trial.
- The court held the TVPA can apply to coercive conduct within an intimate/BDSM relationship when statutory elements are met.
- The court held § 1591’s “commercial sex act” definition reaches coerced creation of pornography where the defendant receives something of value from the resulting sexual depictions.
- The court found sufficient evidence for a rational jury to conclude coercion caused the victim to provide labor/services and to engage in commercial sex acts.
- The court rejected a proposed “dominant purpose” instruction as unsupported by the statutory text.

## Legal Principles

- TVPA coverage turns on statutory elements—proscribed means of coercion and compelled labor/services or commercial sex acts—not on whether the conduct occurred in a “traditional” trafficking setting or within an intimate relationship.
- “Commercial sex act” under 18 U.S.C. § 1591 is broadly defined to include sexual activity for which anything of value is received, including revenue derived from monetized sexual images connected to the sexual activity.
- For §§ 1589 and 1591, the government may prove causation through an ongoing coercive environment; the statutes do not require a distinct, immediate coercive act before each instance of labor or sexual activity.
- Neither § 1589 nor § 1591 requires proof that obtaining labor/services or commercial sex acts was the defendant’s dominant or primary purpose; it is enough that the defendant knowingly obtained them through prohibited coercive means.

## Conclusion

The court sustained the jury’s TVPA convictions and denied post-verdict relief, concluding that coerced labor and porn-based commercial sex acts fall within §§ 1589 and 1591 even when the relationship began as consensual BDSM and occurred in a domestic setting.


United States v. Marcus, 487 F. Supp. 2d 289 (E.D.N.Y. 2007)