Did Larry Flynt Magazine Put Mentally Disabled "Sex Slave" on Cover?
NEW YORK (CBS) Hollywood photographer Ken Marcus reportedly took pictures of the mentally disabled young woman who was allegedly enslaved, tortured, and sexually abused by a MIssouri man, and then sold them to a hard-core pornography magazine belonging to Larry Flynt.
The FBI launched an investigation into Edward "Master Ed" Bagley's torture tactics in February 2009, and came across Marcus' racy photo shoot of the young woman.
The photos had been featured on the July 2007 cover of Larry Flynt's "Taboo" magazine, reports Hollywood entertainment site TheWrap.
In the pictures, the young woman is completely nude and tied down while fetish model Anatasia Price holds her head down.
According to TheWrap, Bagley was also photographed for the accompanying interview and is shown winding or unraveling rope.
"They actually seemed to be quite a lovely couple ... if anything he was going out of his way to make sure she was as happy as possible. I was very shocked to see the government had any issue with them at all," Marcus told The Wrap.
As long as Marcus and Taboo executive editor Ira Levine maintain they had no idea the woman was anything other than a fully consenting adult, they likely will not face criminal charges, says the website; however, they may be asked to testify or face civil action if the woman ever chooses to sue.
Bagley was indicted Sept. 8 by federal prosecutors who say the 43-year-old, known by his fellow bondage and sado-masochism followers as "Master Ed," forced the young woman to sign a sex slave contract and tortured her for seven years, according to The Wrap.
Bagley is also accused of selling her for sex, forcing her to strip, giving her drugs, and performing abortions on the young woman.
There are four other men who also face charges relating to the sexual enslavement and prostitution of the young woman.
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September 13, 2010 - Missouri Man Edward Bagley and Four Others Arrested for Torture, Sexual Abuse of Young, Disabled Woman