Amber Laurel Baptiste alleges he abused her for 13 years.
By Sreekanth A. Nair
Michael Goguen, a Silicon Valley venture capitalist and a former managing partner at Sequoia Capital, has been accused of sexually abusing a girl for 13 years, reported Tech Crunch.
Amber Laurel Baptiste in her lawsuit filed on March 8 in San Mateo alleged that Goguen abused her “sexually, physically and emotionally” for 13 years.
Goguen met Baptiste, who describes herself as a victim of human trafficking and brought to the US from Canada at the age of 15.
Baptiste alleged that Goguen promised to help her but ultimately made her his sex slave. She suffered “countless hours of forced sodomy” from him.
“Goguen was a worse predator than the human traffickers who were keeping her in bondage,” she said in the lawsuit. He also forced her to call him “king” and “emperor.”
According to the suit, in 2012, Goguen promised to pay her $40 million. But after paying $10 million, he refused to pay the remaining amount leading to file the suit.
Goguen has filed a countersuit against her, calling her “exotic dancer . . . looking for a payday.” He claimed that he had enough evidence with him to prove that she was extorting him. It includes Baptiste’s emails and text messages.
Reports said Goguen has provided the text messages and emails of Baptiste calling him “Prince Charming,” “My Beautiful Love” and “the sweetest man in the world.”
Meanwhile, Sequoia Capital, in a statement said Goguen’s exit from the company was appropriate action.
“We understand the allegations about Michael Goguen are unproven and unrelated to Sequoia. Still, we decided his departure was appropriate,” it said.