What Happened

What Happened
Scars from being burned with cigarettes: Brand I was forced to get--I have no other tattoos:Jailed even though I am the victim.

What Happened

(Factual Timeline — Working Draft)

  • This document records events as recalled by Jodi Schiller.
  • It reflects her account, including memory gaps and interpretations, without added commentary or external analysis.

I. Divorce & Financial Disruption

  • My marriage to Ben Douglas ended in divorce.
  • I was presented with a “separation agreement” that I did not meaningfully agree to and that significantly restricted my rights.
  • As a result of the divorce and subsequent financial arrangements, I lost access to or control over assets valued at approximately $20 million.
  • Court-ordered alimony was later reduced while I was out of state, significantly decreasing my income.
  • This reduction occurred during an active criminal case against me, increasing financial pressure and limiting my ability to defend myself.

II. Professional Standing Before the Events

  • I was the founder of New Reality Arts, an AR/VR technology company.
  • I was the founder of AR/VR Women and Allies, a nonprofit organization supporting women in immersive technology.
  • Through AR/VR Women and Allies, I:
    • Founded an educational school.
    • Hosted the first AR/VR jobs fair.
    • Held recurring monthly meetups.
    • Connected women founders with venture capital.
  • I served on an international IEEE board.
  • I spoke internationally on AR/VR and emerging technology.
  • I built an extensive professional network in technology, venture capital, and emerging media.

III. Advocacy & Escalating Hostility

  • As leader of AR/VR Women and Allies, women reported workplace misconduct and conference-related crimes to me.
  • I was not law enforcement, but I was often the only person women felt safe reporting to.
  • I advocated publicly for 50/50 representation of women in technology.
  • During this period, I received death threats.
  • I later transitioned leadership of the nonprofit in order to focus on building my company, New Reality Arts.

IV. Formation of New Reality Arts & MetaObject

  • I incorporated New Reality Arts as a Delaware C-Corporation.
  • I developed MetaObject, a frictionless AR/VR commerce and marketing infrastructure platform.
  • I built a working beta.
  • The product was positioned as foundational infrastructure for immersive digital commerce.
  • Due to limited venture funding available to women in Silicon Valley, I sought funding internationally.
  • I traveled to China and South Africa to present the company and pursue capital.

V. South Africa Memory Gap → Camden, Maine

  • While in South Africa, after drinking a Coca-Cola in a hotel lobby, my memory becomes unclear.
  • My next clear recollection is waking up in Camden, Maine.
  • I stayed in a hotel in Camden for a period of time.
  • Ethan Shaw, with whom I had a brief relationship approximately ten years earlier, began visiting me.
  • Years earlier, I had contacted the FBI regarding him.
  • I purchased a house in Camden using funds that had been allocated for MetaObject.
  • The house was located two homes away from Ethan Shaw.
  • I did not want the house and could not afford it.
  • This was the only home I have ever owned solely in my own name.

VI. Coercion, Assault, and Control in Camden

  • I was assaulted and tortured.
  • I was told explicitly that I was a sex slave.
  • I was given a script instructing me to tell friends and family that I had moved to Camden because I was “in love.”
  • I was forced to:
    • Purchase sexual devices.
    • Obtain a tattoo stating I was Ethan’s slave.
    • Undergo piercings to my breasts and intimate areas.
    • Send sexualized emails to Ethan that were not written in my voice.
  • I experienced sustained psychological coercion.
  • My communications and behavior were manipulated to construct an appearance of consensual involvement.

VII. Temporary Restraining Order & Escalation

  • Ethan Shaw obtained a temporary restraining order alleging threats toward him and his son.
  • I state these allegations were false.
  • Fearing prosecution, I:
    • Asked my realtor to relist the house.
    • Sold my furniture.
    • Left Maine for California.

VIII. California → Forced Return

  • I leased a car and signed a one-year apartment lease in Martinez, California.
  • I lived in the apartment without furniture.
  • Approximately one month later, two individuals entered my apartment.
  • I was raped and forced to return to Maine.

IX. Fire & Emergency Response

  • After being back in Camden for roughly a month:
    • I was tied loosely to a chair.
    • The house was set on fire.
    • I escaped.
    • I ran toward an ambulance in visible shock.
  • My next memory is waking up in the psychiatric ward at Pen Bay Hospital.

X. Psychiatric Hold & Public Statements

  • I was not given a physical examination for visible injuries from what was happening to me , these included burns, bruises, welts.
  • The assigned psychiatrist interrogated me aggressively about the emails I was being forced to send as if he were law enforcement.
  • The District Attorney, Chris Fernald, gave a public interview describing me as mentally ill and dishonest. He stated that I was calling and texting Shaw, when I did not have his phone number, and that they were attempting to pursue a six-month psychiatric commitment for me.
  • I was involuntarily held for approximately two weeks.
  • A planned six-month commitment hearing did not occur, there was no evidence to even hold a hearing.
  • I was released directly into police custody and transported to jail. This is illegal.

XI. Criminal Charges & Supervision

  • I was charged with Level 2 stalking. I later learned this charge only applies when you've been found guilty of stalking 1--which never happened.
  • The forced emails were used as evidence.
  • The lack of furniture in my California apartment was cited as suspicious.
  • I was placed under strict pre-bail supervision, including:
    • Daily call-ins.
    • In-person police check-ins.
    • Regular meetings with a county social worker.
  • The social worker told me: “You’re guilty until proven innocent in Knox County.”
  • I retained Laura Shaw.
  • I later retained Steve Cohen, paying a $5,000 retainer.
  • Cohen:
    • Failed to return calls.
    • Pressured me to accept a guilty plea.
    • Provided minimal substantive defense.
    • Told me he did not respect me.
  • During jury selection, I terminated Cohen.
  • Laura Shaw attempted to smooth over the conflict.
  • I met with Ethan Shaw under the condition that I could not speak.
  • Ethan made statements while I was forced to remain silent.
  • I was told I would lose regardless of the facts.
  • I concluded that no path to justice existed in Maine.

XIII. Settlement & Conviction

  • I settled the case.
  • I was convicted of second-degree stalking.
  • I was ordered to vacate my own home due to proximity restrictions.
  • I continued paying the mortgage.

XV. Departure from the United States

  • While living in the RV, an one of my perpetrators came returned my passport and told me to “run.”
  • I left Maine immediately.
  • I flew from Portland, Maine to Spain.
  • I arrived in Spain with minimal funds.

XVI. Spain & Device Review

  • I requested an early alimony payment from Ben.
  • My ex-husband asked me where I was. I said Maine. He told me no I wasn't. I was in Europe somewhere. There was no legal way for him to know this.
  • I then conducted a systematic review of my electronic devices.
  • I discovered software consistent with unauthorized access or malware.
  • I had not knowingly installed these programs.
  • I interpreted this discovery as digital surveillance.
  • This is where the story shifts from the horror of sex slavery, to the horror of absolute indifference by law enforcement. I thought all I needed to do after I escaped was tell law enforcement what had happened to me. Additionally, there were other women being held and tortured in Camden, I presume them now killed, the US government is directly responsible for their deaths.
  • It is now roughly 7 years after I escaped, I have not stopped calling out for help, no help has appeared.

Attempts to get help:

  • Contacted Jeff Rosen, the DA of Santa Clara county and an old family friend I thought. I went on my first date with Ben with him and his wife who works for the DOJ, Amber Rosen. Family Camps, regular Friday night dinners, normal stuff, kids growing up playing together. He never responded.
  • I took my hacked laptop to the FBI office in Madrid. Outside the US embassy, I explained to someone who claimed to be an FBI officer what happened to me, showed him the laptop. He sent me away and I never heard back.
  • Made reports in Maine, on the FBI website, with the Human Trafficking Hotline.
  • When I received no response from my official reports, I took to social media. You can see on my Twitter from that time repeatedly calling out for help from every federal law enforcement agency and media outles and fully telling my story. No response.
  • Reached out to media outlets across the country with my story many times. No Response.
  • Took to Tiktok to try to get public attention and help to the women and girls still trapped there. People responded, were concerned, but no one could do anything.
  • Made over 25 police reports about what happened to me, typical response: Over our heads, if it didn't happen directly in our jurisdiction, nothing we can do--this is probably why my perpetrators kidnapped me from South Africa.
  • Eventually went to the house of Biden's chief of staff, Ron Klain. Downloaded for 3 hours to one of his men and the secret service what had happened to me, that there were US citizens in extreme jeopardy still in Camden. They sent me to the hospital for a psych eval after this. The Dr found nothing wrong with me. I called the Secret Service with the number given to me the next day, nothing.
  • Additionally I have approached over a hundred law firms, some trafficking related, some abuse related, some family law: all have rejected me and issued me a warning about statute of limitations. To which I responded, these are crimes against humanity, there is no statute of limitations. Also, given that no law is being followed at all, you can't then enforce the one law that might protect the predators in this country.
  • And you can see my many reports about the nothing that is happening now.
  • No federal law enforcement agency has ever taken a report from me about what happened to me.
  • I deeply, deeply, deeply regret having paid any taxes at all to a criminal organization, the US government, that uses my money to destroy me. I think this is sane.