By Zach Patberg
In one particularly violent incident, the defendant, Glenn Marcus, allegedly pierced one of the women's breasts and cut her stomach, legs, buttocks, arms and chest with a knife, according to the affidavit.Marcus, 53, who authorities said was a writer, was arrested last Thursday at his apartment at 82-30 138th St. and arraigned the same day in Brooklyn federal court on aggravated sexual abuse charges, which carry a possible life sentence, according to the Queens district attorney. He was placed on house arrest Monday after posting a $1 million bail, the DA said.What began as consensual dominance-submission relationships between Marcus and the two women took a drastic turn in October 1999 when one, identified only as CS2, told Marcus she wanted to leave him, the affidavit said. Marcus is accused of responding to her request by chaining her naked to a wall, forcing a whiffle ball into her mouth and then whipping her, the affidavit said.Authorities said that throughout their detainment at Marcus' Kew Gardens apartment and at other locations such as in Maryland, the women were forced to post pictures of their own torture on the Web site and spend up to 10 hours a day clicking onto links to increase the site's profits.One woman was also forced to get a job at a day care and hand over her earnings to Marcus or be beaten and tortured, according to the affidavit, which was given by Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent Austin Berglas, who gathered his evidence from witness interviews and the images on site.Other acts described in the affidavit include choking one with a plastic bag, hanging the other upside down from a basement ceiling for several hours and piercing one's tongue, “which gushed with blood,” Berglas said based on what he saw on the Web site.Reactions from Marcus' neighbors were ones of shock and fear.”It totally knocks me on my heels,” said James Wilson, who saw federal agents taking away boxes and computer equipment from the 2N apartment last Thursday after Marcus was arrested.Most said they only knew of a middle-aged woman living alone in the apartment, with a man visiting occasionally to work on computers inside. No one was home at the apartment last week.”I'm freaked out now,” said another neighbor, who said her name was Gema. “It's so bizarre.”Reach reporter Zach Patberg by e-mail at news@timesledger.com or by phone at 718-229-0300, Ext. 155.
