According to legal papers, Goguen (pictured)- who was married with two children - offered to save his alleged victim from her traffickers if she agreed to have sex with him
Michael Goguen left Sequioa Capital last week after 20 years with the firm
He resigned after a woman claimed he kept her as a sex slave for years
Amber Baptiste said he met her when she was 15 in a strip club in 2001
He 'promised to help free her from the traffickers that brought her to US in exchange for lurid sexual acts that lasted 13 years', her lawsuit claims
Continue Story after cut ......
In 2012 he allegedly left her bleeding in a hotel after suspected violent sex
She claims he also infected her with HPV, forced her to call him 'king'
Goguen denies the claims, claims they had a romantic relationship
Photo: FilmMagic
Michael Goguen (left), a 20-year partner at Sequoia Capital, parted ways with the company last week after his alleged victim filed a lawsuit in California on Tuesday. He is pictured with Donald Trump's ex Marla Maples (center right) and musician Won-G (right)
One of Silicon Valley's top venture capitalists has been accused of violently raping, emotionally tormenting, and drugging a 'human trafficking victim' who he kept as a sex slave for more than 13 years.
Amber Baptiste claims she met Goguen in
a strip club in Texas months after she was trafficked to America from
Canada at the age of 15 in 2001.
According to legal papers, Goguen - who
was married with two children - offered to save her from her
traffickers if she agreed to have sex with him.
But over the next 13 years, she claims,
he habitually raped her, forced her to call him 'king' or 'emperor',
and infected her with
'I KNOW IT FEELS REALLY GOOD WHEN WE ARE TOGETHER': THE MESSAGES BAPTISTE SENT TO GOUGEN THAT HIS LAWYERS SAY PROVE SHE WASN'T A VICTIM OF ABUSE
In 2012, she was forced to have
emergency surgery after Goguen sodomized her so violently that he
ripped through her anal canal, causing a seven-inch tear, then 'left
her bleeding and alone on the floor of a hotel room in a foreign
country... nearly hemorrhaging to death', the lawsuit claims.
The detail is one of many lurid
allegations of torment, violence and degradation in the 26-page lawsuit
filed to California's San Mateo County Superior Court.
Goguen, a Stanford and Cornell
graduate, has denied the claims. He has counter-sued, citing claims of
extortion and invasion of privacy, insisting the pair enjoyed a loving
relationship.
Sequoia - an early investor in Apple,
Google, YouTube, PayPal and Dropbox - has acknowledged the existence of
the lawsuit, saying: 'We understand that these allegations of serious
improprieties are unproven and unrelated to Sequoia. We decided that
Mike’s departure was the appropriate course of action.'
Goguen's work, including sitting on the
board of more than a dozen companies, has been transferred to another
partner at Sequoia.
According to the lawsuit, Goguen
repeatedly asked Baptiste out for dinner when he met her in 2001,
pleading to let him help her escape her traffickers.
After months of persistent requests, Baptiste allegedly agreed.
That night, she claims, he 'lured [her]
to his hotel room under the pretenses that he needed to finish a few
calls before dinner. Ms Baptiste arrived at his room to find Mr Goguen
nude and touching himself.
'He immediately cornered her and insisted that she have sex with him.
'Ms Baptiste told him she was a virgin and would not have sex with him.
Goguen's lawsuit contain's a number of messages Baptiste allegedly sent while she says he was being abusive.
His legal
team believe the correspondences show she was far from being a victim
of abuse and was actually involved in a mutual relationship.
They include:
'The
love that I hold in my heart for you was instant. It is a perfect
love. And to me it is the perfect way to love someone. It is forever
and unconditional;'
'I
love our visits. I feel so blessed to have met you and have been able
to maintain a special relationship with you. I can only hope that it
continues;'
'I know it feels really good when we are together and to me it feels so perfect and I never want to let go of you;'
'I feel like it is the most perfect beautiful interactions two people could ever experience;'and
'I could never even make love to you enough times to show you how special you are to me.'
The document also contains what his lawyers described as 'erotic emails', some of which allegedly included 'provocative photos':
'I
want you to feel comfortably [sic]sharing with me every fantasy you
have ever had. When we come together I want it to be completley [sic]
comfortable and relaxed and for exploration of all fantasy reality and
erotica to take placewherever we decide that may be;'
'Can'twait for night 3 of our ardent liaison amoureuse:);'
'I
would like to move this sexual energy more often. And sexual energy
equals creativity so the more amazing sex we have themore creative we
will become;'
'You
can ask me to do anything with you I want you to experience anything
that you have ever wanted to experience with me. I don't want you to be
shy;'
'I don't really require variety in hotels. I come there with one thought in mind which is making love to you;'and
'I miss you so Much. My Body Misses you so Much. I love you so Much.'
Photo: getty Images
Goguen was previously married to model and Naked Princess boutique owner Jordana Woodland. She is pictured in May, 2015
They also included a list of 'affectionate monikers' they say she used.
Such as:
'Prince Charming;'
'My Sweet Sweet Sunshine;
'My Beautiful Love;'
'[A]n Angel to my life'
'[T]he most wonderful man in my whole world.'
His
attorneys also added a number of alleged messages she sent Goguen when
she was away from him. The suit reads: 'Far from being a sexual slave,
Ms.Baptiste toldMr. Goguen how much she missed him when they were apart
and desired to see him again, with endearing phrases.'
They included:
'1 Million Kisses and Hugs Forever;'
'You have got to be the sweetest man in the world. I can't wait to see you.'
'Miss you Bunches;'
'I miss you and I hope you are well;' and
'Can't wait to kiss you.'
'He continued pressuring her, moving her hand to touch his penis and grinding against her leg.
'Mr Goguen finally let her leave after she broke down in tears.'
Goguen divorced his wife, the mother of
his two children, in 2001 then remarried a few months later - while
allegedly pursuing Baptiste. Later that year she agreed to his 'offer',
her lawyers claim.
He divorced his second wife in 2006 and promised to devote himself to Baptiste, the suit claims.
No matter how many times she cried or begged him to stop, he would demean or verbally abuse her until he was finished
Amber Baptiste's lawsuit claims
However, he remarried just months later
and had another three children - but allegedly kept them a secret from
Baptiste. He later divorced his third wife.
One of the women he married was model and owner of the Naked Princess boutique, Jordana Woodland.
Baptiste claims Goguen said she was his
only sexual partner. However, when she discovered she had contracted
HPV, she claims, she confronted him and he admitted he had lied.
Meanwhile, she claims, the abuses persisted.
'Mr Goguen continued to dangle the
prospect of helping Ms Baptiste out of the grip of the human
traffickers in exchange for increasingly debasing acts,' the suit
claims.
These 'acts' included grovelling for
Goguen to masturbate on her and ejaculate in her mouth 'causing her to
choke or vomit', according to Baptiste's legal documents.
Almost every time, the suit claims, he would sodomize her for hours on end, feeding her alcohol and drugs to endure it.
'No matter how many times she cried or
begged him to stop, he would demean or verbally abuse her until he was
finished, only to seek forgiveness week later and repeat the cycle,'
the papers allege.
Goguen has since filed a counter-suit,
claiming he has 'an enormous amount of evidence, including messages
that span years and show that she pursued me romantically and professed
her love, respect and appreciation for my kind and compassionate
treatment of her.'
Sequoia - an early investor in Apple, Google, YouTube, PayPal and Dropbox - has acknowledged the existence of the lawsuit
'The reality is that Ms Baptiste was an exotic dancer, first looking for a payday, and later revenge,' Goguen's suit claims.
'Mr Goguen was generous with Ms
Baptiste and wanted to help her to have a better life. Over the years,
he provided her with hundreds of thousands of dollars. This enabled her
to quit her job as a "dancer" and pursue her interests without needing
to worry about finances, or even having to work.'
He describes Baptiste as a Canada
native who entered into a sham marriage in 2002 to get US citizenship
and now lives in Los Angeles.
And in a bid to dispel her victim
image, Goguen includes four risqué photographs of Baptiste in lingerie
that she allegedly sent to him in 2013.
'In addition to her written seductions,
Ms. Baptiste repeatedly sent Mr.Goguen sexually provocative and
pornographic photographs of herself, unclothed or scantily clothed, in
furtherance of her efforts to convince him to see her more often,' the
suit claims.
Above the pictures, Goguen's lawyers
describe them as 'a few of the milder photographs', explaining they
were sent 'after she claims to have been raped, abandoned and
hemorrhaging foreign country following hours of forced sodomy, and
intentionally infected with a STD.'
Below, the lawyers write: 'It defies
logic and common sense that an alleged victim of “rape,” “abuse,” and
“sexual slavery,” would send such provocative photos to the alleged
perpetrator.'
Addressing Baptiste's claim that he
left her to die after sodomizing her in a hotel in 2012, he claims they
enjoyed a night of consensual sex, and her injury was minor.
'Far from being "forcibly sodomized"
and "left bleeding alone on the floor of a hotel room... nearly
hemorrhaging to death," the supposed [injury] was so minor that Mr.
Goguen was unaware of it until Ms. Baptiste emailed him after the fact
gushing about how wonderful the night was and noting that she was
scheduled to have a "small surgery" that was "not a big deal",' he
claims.
He said she emailed him the next day saying:
'I would never erase that night for anything. It was beautiful each and every moment.
'I would never erase that night for anything. It was beautiful each and every moment.
'The last night together was really
incredible for me. I could feel so many things moving between us that I
have not felt before. Hopefully I will feel you again soon.'
Hitting back at her claim that he
infected her with HPV, Goguen claims 'it is virtually impossible to
determine the source of the virus.'
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