Dominatrix found guilty

A dominatrix has been found guilty of running a bawdy house in Newmarket, Ontario. Terri-Jean Bedford's two-week trial this summer focused on the critical issue of whether sado-masochistic acts constitute sex.

Bedford, who called herself Madame de Sade, has never denied that she fulfilled her customers sado-masochistic desires. But she insisted repeatedly that no sex took place under her roof and described it as "erotic theatre."

The judge decided that sex for money was taking place. He ruled that no other common-sense conclusion could be drawn.

The long-awaited ruling against Bedford could throw the legal future of for-profit sado-masochism into question.

Bedford will be sentenced October 16. She faces a maximum of two years in prison.