Gallery Carre
When SM Goes Wrong
Oct 16th, 2006 by Jessica Gold Haralson
The London Times reports today that an American man, Charles Henson, was found guilty for attempted murder of his British wife with a surgical glove. (She’s allergic to latex!)
Part of the testimony during the trial involved the couples’ BDSM relationship — they met online on forums devoted to domination and submission, and then wed in 2005 after meeting face to face. The (soon to be ex), who went by the nom de plume “Salacious Squirrel” on the online forums, said their marriage was a cold wake up call:
She said she that while she treated the fetish scene as a “fantasy” rather than a reality, to Henson it was a “way of life”. The jury heard that Ms Phelps was a “slave” and Henson was the “master” in their relationship. Prior to meeting Ms Phelps, Henson lived with his mother and had amassed a large collection of swords, daggers and battleaxes. After the failure of the marriage, Henson returned to the US in February this year as his visa had expired. But weeks later he came back to the UK and went to the house in Coalway, near Coleford, armed with two knives and wearing a latex glove. He was found after Ms Phelps was woken by one of her dogs barking and the smell of gas.
Obviously, Mr. Henson’s actions don’t constitute a safe, sane, and consensual BDSM relationship in the least. (And non-kinksters, if you’re reading this: to most folks in the BDSM community, what Mr. Henson did was absolutely NOT OK.) So what’s the lesson here, folks? If you’re going to get married to someone, at least meet more than once. Plenty of hot kinky courtships get off the ground on the Internet, to be sure, but why would you tie the knot with someone after one face to face meeting?
Very scary — and sad — story ! A lesson to all of us to be VERY careful who we deal with !
Sincerely,
Anne Elizabeth