Nobody expected a BDSM session in a quiet Escondido home to end in a manslaughter conviction, a courtroom breakdown, and four years behind bars. But here we are.
Michaela Rylaarsdam stood before a San Diego Superior Court judge on Monday and was sentenced to four years for the involuntary manslaughter of 56-year-old Michael Dale, who suffocated to death after she wrapped his head in a plastic bag, Saran Wrap, and duct tape during a paid fetish encounter gone fatally wrong, per TMZ.
The adult content creator, wife, and mother of three reportedly sobbed through the entire hearing, barely holding it together long enough to address the victim’s family. “I’m sorry is not enough,” she told them through tears. That much, everyone in that courtroom seemed to agree on.
How This Whole Thing Started
According to a court affidavit, Michael Dale first spotted Rylaarsdam on a website typically used for escort and stripper services sometime in March 2023. What followed was weeks of WhatsApp conversations, paid text exchanges, and eventually, an arrangement for her to come to his Escondido home and perform fetish acts.
Over the course of those weeks, Dale paid Rylaarsdam more than $11,000. (£8,000). For context, that is a fully loaded vacation, a used car, or apparently, several weeks of increasingly elaborate BDSM requests.
In their messages, Dale asked Rylaarsdam to wrap him in plastic “like a mummy” and glue women’s boots to his feet with Gorilla Glue. Other reported requests included pouring adhesive into his eyes to seal them shut. Rylaarsdam later told investigators the April session was the first time she had ever engaged in fetish behavior.
What Happened on April 17, 2023
According to an affidavit for an arrest warrant, when Rylaarsdam arrived at Dale’s home that evening, he appeared intoxicated. But that didn’t deter her. She proceeded anyway, spending several hours engaging in fetish acts with him.
At some point during the encounter, Dale ended up on the floor with duct tape over his mouth, his head wrapped in cling film, and a plastic bag secured with tape over his entire face. His wrists, legs, and fingers were also bound with duct tape and cling film. In all, he had been wrapped, bound, and left there while the session continued.
According to investigators, Rylaarsdam sat next to Dale and filmed herself performing a sex act for her OnlyFans page as he struggled for oxygen. That video, which detectives would later find on her phone, was recorded in the minutes just before she finally dialed 911.
A roommate who was also in the home testified that he overheard Dale say, “Can we stop? I’ll pay you more money to stop,” before deciding to call 911 himself. That detail came out at her preliminary hearing and painted a picture that was far more damning than a simple accident between consenting adults.
At the end of it all, Dale was declared brain-dead the following day and removed from life support shortly after. Authorities ruled his cause of death as suffocation and lack of oxygen to the brain.
The Charges, The Plea, and the Family’s Response
Rylaarsdam was arrested in February 2025 and charged with murder. In May 2026, she accepted a plea deal and pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter rather than face trial on the original charge.
Her attorney leaned into the consent angle from the very beginning, arguing that Dale was a willing participant who had orchestrated the encounter himself. The lawyer said there was no intent to kill and no attempt to cover anything up, and that Rylaarsdam acted appropriately once she realized something had gone wrong.
The judge was not exactly moved. “That conduct showed a conscious disregard for human life,” the deputy district attorney told Courthouse News, adding that she knew the risk she was taking and went for it anyway.
The judge acknowledged the plea agreement but made clear the facts of the case could have supported far more serious charges. The San Diego County District Attorney’s Office said it weighed all the evidence before agreeing to the deal, including input from the victim’s family, who said they were satisfied with the outcome.
A Husband, a Sentence, and a Lot of Unanswered Questions
One detail that got buried in all of this but absolutely deserves its moment: Rylaarsdam’s husband was reportedly aware she had an OnlyFans account and helped manage the business. According to the arrest affidavit, he received at least $1,000 from Dale while the session was actively happening, and allegedly encouraged his wife to keep going and get more money out of the client by continuing the fetish behavior. He has not been charged.
Rylaarsdam’s sentence will be served at the county jail rather than state prison, per the terms of the plea agreement.
In all, four years for a man’s life. A family that says they are satisfied. A husband who walked away clean. And a courtroom full of people trying to make sense of how a paid fetish session ended with someone’s son dead on the floor. Some situations do not tie up neatly. This is one of them.
