Screengrab via Fox 8 Cleveland

Ohio police caught a divorce lawyer named Michael Fine taking advantage of clients he hypnotized to sexually assault them before meetings in November of 2014.


Fox 8 News reports that Fine pled guilty to hypnotizing five more women and was sentenced to 12 years in prison. The video of Fine’s trance technique was released, and it shows Fine murmuring to a woman who appears to be slack and relaxed. The Fox 8 team says many of the things Fine says to her are too graphic to be shared, but here are a few quotes:

“Every time I say the word pleasure, you cannot constrain or hold yourself back, your entire body is a vessel of pleasure,” he said. “When is the last time you made love?” he asked. “Every time I touch you, it’s gonna be an incredible sensation,” he said. “At the count of three, you won’t be able to control yourself,” Fine also said.

Fine then wakes her, and immediately gets back to business before police burst in. The victim in the video agreed to hiding a secret camera after she says she lost track of time in a meeting with Fine and found her clothing disheveled. The video is relatively mild, but still fairly upsetting:


As more women came forward to accuse Fine of similar conduct in 2014, Fox 8 reported that bar association attorney Chris Cook was asked to defend the effectiveness of hypnotism and the likelihood of being put into an hypnotic trance. He said at the time, “Even a lay person could recognize that what appears to be going on is some hypnotic trance, things that you might associate with that, such as counting backwards, relaxation techniques, breathing techniques, focusing on colors, what are called code words I’ve come to learn.”

He added, “I don’t think in my personal opinion that there’s any question that hypnosis, the use of hypnosis is real, and can be used for immoral, illegitimate and a very dark purpose.”