Philadelphia- Like thousands of people who advertise their services in the same corners of cyberspace, Natel King was pursuing her porn-star dreams with two simple credentials:
An X-rated online profile, and the willingness to travel wherever a photographer asked.
King’s naked body, stabbed repeatedly and adorned with sexual bondage devices, turned up last week in a rocky ravine above the Schuylkill in Whitemarsh Township. Police have charged Anthony J. Frederick, an Eagleville photographer who took pornographic photos of King after they met on the Internet, with her killing.
The case, experts said, shows that the risky world of pornography has turned even more dangerous in the electronic age, when anyone with a digital camera can publish pornography on the Web, and aspiring centerfolds can make their nude images and contact information available to millions.
“The Internet allows young women to market themselves and get their names out there, but it is also opening up a lot of dangers,” said Gayle Thomas of Sex Trade Opportunities for Risk Minimization, a Minneapolis group that works to reduce risks to sex workers. “The Internet allows people to delve into fetishes and fantasies… that can really take a dark turn.”
King, 23, a Toronto-area native who appeared in videos and magazines as Taylor Sumers, the Sexy Canadian, traveled alone to shoots across North America – a habit that friends and colleagues often warned her against.
Stephan Sirrard, an executive with the FCF Agency, an adult-modeling agency in Toronto that represented King, said he advised her to work exclusively with FCF and give up freelance work. Established agencies conduct background checks on photographers and contract only with reputable producers, but some models prefer the fast cash associated with solo work, Sirrard said.
“She wanted to do freelance, even though I told her it was very, very dangerous,” Sirrard said. “Any maniac, pervert or monster can contact you, and you have no idea who they are.”
Police were granted a search warrant for the Eagleville townhouse where Frederick, 47, lived with his wife, Miriam, and the couple’s 2-year-old son.
Detectives, according to the warrant, sought images “depicting real or simulated killings committed during acts of sexual bondage, otherwise known as ‘snuff’ films.” They also sought Frederick’s computers, King’s personal effects, sexual bondage devices, and hairs or fibers to be compared with evidence taken from King’s body.
Frederick, whose photography studio in the 100 block of West Third Avenue in Conshohocken was filled with an array of sexual bondage gear, was denied bail last week and is held at the Montgomery County prison.
Two months ago, Conshohocken police were called to his studio after model Tiana Hunter of Buffalo complained that Frederick had refused to pay her for a shoot in which he placed a ball gag in her mouth and chained her to a radiator. Frederick released Hunter from the restraints after she began to cry, according to the police affidavit. No charges were filed.
Like King, Hunter traveled alone to her shoot with Frederick, and said finding a friend to travel with was not easy.
“I don’t have a boyfriend,” Hunter said. “But if I did, who is willing to drop their life and travel?
In other news, “Naughty College Couples Vol. 6”, featuring Taylor Sumers aka Natel King, has become quite popular following the murder case. The 23 year old Canadian porn actress was filmed being tortured to death.
The distributor of the movie, Valley Pro Video’s Frank Carulli says his phone has been “ringing off the hooks” and “some of these phone calls are out of line… One retailer ordered a bunch and told me he was putting them in the window of his stores… that’s morbid” he says.
Several major news media, including CNN, has requested video clips for their murder case coverage. Carulli and his company sends their “deepest condolences to the family and friends” and warns women not to go to porn shoots alone.