Bondage death sparks legal debate

[Dragonlady8]

Interesting debate.....so who is liable? Or is this similar to the "rape" debate when no means no more?


If victim consents to dangerous sex and dies, can partner be held liable?
The Associated Press
Updated: 9:59 p.m. ET Oct 11, 2007
LYNN, Mass. - Adrian Exley was wrapped tightly in heavy plastic, then bound with duct tape. A leather hood was put over his head with a thin plastic straw inserted so that he could breathe, and he was shut up in a closet.

That, apparently, was the way Exley liked it. But the way it ended — with Exley suffocating — was not what he had in mind when he traveled from Britain for a bondage session with a man he had met through a sadomasochism Web site.

Exley’s body was discovered in the woods last year, two months after he was bound up in the bondage “playroom” Gary LeBlanc had built in the basement of his suburban Boston home. LeBlanc, a 48-year-old Gulf Oil sales executive, detailed his responsibility in the fatal bondage session in a five-page suicide note, just before he put a gun to his head and killed himself.

Now the question is: Since Exley consented to the sex play, can LeBlanc be held responsible for his death?

Exley’s family is suing LeBlanc’s estate for unspecified damages, claiming wrongful death. Many bondage enthusiasts are watching the case closely, seeing it as a lesson in where to draw the line of responsibility on consensual but dangerous sex.

“There’s definitely the whole spectrum of thought on what really happened — whether it was a consent issue, or negligence or misunderstanding,” said Vivienne Kramer, a board member of the New England Leather Alliance. “Everybody has their own ideas on what should have happened.”

Details of sex play
Exley and LeBlanc met through an online forum for gay men into rubber, leather and bondage. Exley, a 32-year-old stripper, used the screen name “Studpup,” while LeBlanc called himself “Rubrman” and built a chamber with rubber mats on the floors and walls, chains, leather restraints, rubber suits and a hospital gurney.

Exley arrived at LeBlanc’s house in Lynn in April 2006 after the pair had exchanged e-mails in which they discussed plans for LeBlanc to play the “master” and Exley his “slave,” according to the lawsuit.

John Andrews, a lawyer for LeBlanc’s estate, said Exley knew the risks going in. “What occurred was an act or actions between two consenting adults, both of whom knew what they were doing, and it had a tragic end,” he said.

The lawsuit describes a three-day bondage and discipline session that ended when a third man, Scott Vincent, discovered Exley was not breathing. Exley had been put in a closet while bound in plastic up to his neck and left alone for several hours, according to the lawsuit.

Trouble breathing
In his suicide note, LeBlanc admitted that Exley at one point had trouble breathing. But he said that after “cooling him down,” Exley improved. LeBlanc said that he went to sleep about 3 a.m. but was woken up a few hours later by Vincent, who told him Exley was not breathing and was turning blue and cold.

LeBlanc said he panicked, and he and Vincent drove to Rhode Island, where they buried the body and threw away Exley’s clothing and identification.

The Rhode Island medical examiner determined that Exley suffocated. Vincent said in a sworn statement that the straw had fallen out of his mouth in the closet.

Vincent, a flight attendant who is also being sued, is charged with failure to report a death in Rhode Island. But he has not been charged in Massachusetts.

'A horrible tragedy'
In his note, LeBlanc said he was “responsible for a horrible tragedy,” adding: “Had I dealt with the first crisis responsibly, he would likely have returned home safely.”

Lawyers for Exley’s estate acknowledge that Exley wanted to participate in a bondage session, but say he did not know about LeBlanc’s reputation as an “extreme edge player” in the world of bondage and sadomasochism.

“Just because you are agreeing that you will allow someone to tie you up temporarily as part of role-playing doesn’t mean that you are consenting to be killed or to be left alone or to be abused,” attorney Randy Chapman said.

Several people who came forward after Exley’s death told police that LeBlanc had restrained them and left them alone for long periods or ignored their requests that he curtail a bondage session.

Both actions go against the bondage protocols, which say participants must stop if their partner uses a prearranged “safe word” or “safe signal” and must not leave anyone who is bound alone, said Susan Wright, a spokeswoman for the National Coalition for Sexual Freedom.

Practitioner: A point where line is crossed
Brian Plant, a bondage and sadomasochism practitioner from Kansas, said: “Nobody goes into these things saying, ‘Oh, well, I’m going to die because of it.’ You reach a point when the line is crossed, and it is no longer consensual.”

“The law says if a person causes the death of another person by an act which is either negligent or reckless, that person is liable,” Cook said. “You have a duty to behave reasonably. I think it’s the same thing here, albeit a very strange set of facts.”

[Porterwake]

I finally get to see my g/f after four days, and after reading that, I won't be getting wood for a week.

But as for punishment, I have no idea.....wow......

Maybe they should check on each other once and a while? Although what would I know.

[E.J.]

Well, guess this explains where Jt, Muck and Chavez have been..........

[ohsix]

Which is worse, dying from suffocation during a gay bondage session, or dying while racing your Mazda Miata?

[edrex]

wes reeves, I think dying because you commit suicide after you killed a gay guy you met on the internet who was wrapped in plastic and left in your closet exposing your fetishes to the rest of your white collar brethren is probably worse.

[microman]

Considering they won't even let people with terminal illnesses choose to end their life with medical assistance, it's sounds like he'd be f'ked if he was still alive.

[Lop]

anyone else just have to open this thread because it's Dlady and the subject is bondage???

[Commodore]

Lop, yep. I'm sorely disappointed.

[Lop]

yes it was a little bit of a let down not to see any pics

[intotheflats]

I don't think the other guy should be liable at all personally. The dude wanted to be in the situation he was in and ultimately it was an accident. I see no difference in what happened here to a guy wanting to jump the grand canyon on a skateboard and his buddy helping him put on his pads and helmet. Then the guy dies cause he's an idiot. Should the dude that helped him put on his gear be held liable? I think not.

[Dragonlady8]

Just for Lop and Haugy

[Broccoli B]

Dragonlady8, I thought we decided we weren't going to show those to anyone?

[Dragonlady8]

Broccoli B, well I know, but I didn't think anyone would recognize you with that blonde wig.

[Broccoli B]

Dragonlady8, The angle you took that at makes my left breast look HUGE

[intotheflats]

Dragonlady8, STAR

[Dragonlady8]

Broccoli B, well at least it matches your hairless nut sack

[Broccoli B]

Dragonlady8, After the last time I got hair in your teeth I have been scared. No hair for me EVER.

[Lop]

Dragonlady8, thank you

[Dragonlady8]

Broccoli B, well if you had 2 nutz instead of one and groomed that amazon jungle every once in awhile, it wouldn't have been an issue.

[Commodore]

Give up Broccoli

[tball]

Same type of thing but WAY worse. Not for the faint of heart. F'in weirdos.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernd-Jurgen_Brandes

[Commodore]

tball,

[kdip]

tball, That was a messed up article, why would someone agree to do that.

[tball]

kdip, there are some seriously messed up people running around. I wonder how many people I drive next to on the highway or see in the grocery store have that kind of crap running through their heads.