OnlyFans model pleads guilty after client dies in fetish session
An OnlyFans model has pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter after a client died while acting out a 'mummification' fetish.
Mum-of-three Michaela Rylaarsdam, 32, was originally charged with murder after Michael Dale died of asphyxiation.
Dale, 56, from Escondido, California, paid Rylaarsdam $11,000 (£8,000) for the encounter when they met in April 2023.
Messages between the pair show Dale had asked Rylaarsdam to wrap him up in cling film 'like a mummy', as well as to glue women's boots onto his feet, and pour glue over his eyes.
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But the fetish session tragically went awry, and police were called. Officers found Dale with a plastic bag over his head with duct tape over his mouth, face and head.
He had been shrouded in the plastic wrap, prosecutors told the hearing.
He was taken to a local hospital, where he was declared brain dead, before eventually being taken off life support.
His cause of death was found to be asphyxiation, and Rylaarsdam was charged with murder after the autopsy revealed the bag had been wrapped around Dale's head for at least eight minutes.
'Mummification' is recognised as a very dangerous fetish, and led to outcry when it was featured on the current season of Euphoria.
One 2014 case saw a man sentenced to five years in prison after his sexual partner died of a heart attack following a mummification sex game gone wrong.
Detective Chris Zack of the Escondido Police Department told the court that while messages showed Dale had asked Rylaarsdam to wrap him up, he never mentioned or requested the bag to be put over his head.
Dale's roommate of five days also told the court that he overheard the victim asking the model to stop.
He said Dale even offered her more money to finish what was happening.
The Sun reports that Deputy District Attorney David Jarman said: “The evidence showed that he hired her to perform bondage acts and fetish acts.
“There is no indication that he asked her to obstruct his breathing, asked her to put tape over his mouth, asked her to put a plastic bag over his head.”
Last Wednesday (6 May), Rylaarsdam volunteered to plead guilty to the reduced charge in a deal with prosecutors, instead of the initial higher murder charge.
According to PEOPLE, a spokesperson for the San Diego County District Attorney's Office said OnlyFans creator Rylaarsdam will now receive a stipulated sentence of four years in custody.
Her lawyers insisted she was not guilty of murder as she called 911, performed CPR on Dale, and remained at the scene when police arrived.
According to Marca, the model's attorney said: “I don’t believe there was any intent to kill or any attempt to cover it up. And she acted appropriately when she realized this was a problem.
"There is certainly an element of consent; not just something he consented to, but something he actively sought out."
Rylaarsdam will be sentenced on June 8.
Topics: OnlyFans, Crime, True Crime, US News
Jen Thomas