The operator of a sadomasochistic dungeon in Grantville pleaded guilty yesterday to attempted pandering. As part of a plea bargain, Thomas John Mitchell, 46, faces a maximum prison term of two years for his role in a sex ring that recruited men as "slaves" from as far away as the East Coast.
"This is not (a case of) someone just exercising their personal sexual preferences, this is a question of extreme exploitation of other human beings in acts of extreme violence against young men who were his slaves," prosecutor Julie Korsmeyer said.
Defense lawyer Anthony Hernandez contended after the hearing that the allegations against Mitchell had been blown out of proportion. He noted that no charges of false imprisonment or violence were filed.
"The activity he was involved in in the dungeon was with consenting adults indulging in extreme acts," Hernandez said. "I do think that whoever was hurt wanted to be hurt."
Mitchell was arrested Nov. 27 after police completed an 11-month probe into the operation, which was run out of a business suite on Mission Gorge Road. The investigation was prompted by complaints from nearby residents and workers about men running around outside the suite in daylight hours clad in women's underwear, studded neck collars and leashes. Korsmeyer told reporters that Mitchell enlisted men through the Internet and some traveled cross-country to work as prostitutes.
"They would buy a bus ticket to San Diego and turn over all their belongings to him when they arrived, put on a leash and work as a slave," she said.
After Mitchell entered the guilty plea, San Diego Municipal Court Judge Lillian Y. Lim released him without bail, over the objections of the prosecutor, until a sentencing hearing scheduled for Feb. 10. The judge ordered Mitchell not to contact two men who Korsmeyer said came forward to substantiate the charges because they are still afraid of Mitchell.
Mitchell also agreed to pay the San Diego Humane Society nearly $400 to cover the cost of holding two dogs taken from the business when it was raided by police. Korsmeyer said the dogs will not be returned to Mitchell. She said graphic pictures and videotapes of brutality and bestiality also were seized in the raid.
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