2 Arrested on Suspicion of Running Bondage Sex Parlor : Investigation: Authorities say San Clemente townhouse, where a man was found dead in 1993, featured a dungeon room that cost clients $200 an hour.

Deputies arrested two people suspected of running a sadomasochism parlor in a San Clemente townhouse, outfitting one room as a dungeon where clients paid $200 an hour to be shackled, authorities said Friday.

Investigators found what they described as a bondage parlor, including a jail cell, two full-size stockades and pulleys and harnesses anchored to ceiling beams.

“It was apparently one of these bondage-type situations--bondage sex,” said Lt. Tom Garner of the Orange County Sheriff’s Department.

Authorities said the the ocean-view townhouse on Vista Encanta first came to their attention after they responded to a 911 call there on Dec. 27, 1993. A 53-year-old man from San Mateo County was found dead inside the home.

“A long metal chain was wrapped around his neck,” Garner said. “Apparently he died . . . of mechanical asphyxiation.”

Investigators subsequently found that the owner of the townhouse, Betty Davis, 57, who had placed the 911 call, advertised bondage services in specialty magazines, Garner said.

On Thursday, a deputy posing as a customer answered an advertisement and arranged a $200-an-hour session at the home, he said.

Garner said Davis required customers to submit a resume and pass an interview before they would be accepted. Her housemate, John Lester, 63, acted as an intermediary, blindfolding clients before taking them to the home, Garner said.

The undercover deputy met Lester in a bank parking lot in San Clemente, Garner said. The deputy was blindfolded and told to lie on the floor of the car as Lester drove to the home, he said. Undercover officers followed them there.

Davis was arrested when she asked for cash, Garner said.

Davis, who also uses the name Johnson, was booked on suspicion of soliciting and conspiring to commit prostitution and operating without a business license. Lester was booked on suspicion of conspiracy to commit prostitution. The two were released Friday after posting $10,000 bail each.

Garner said no additional charges are planned in connection with the December suffocation.

“We can’t legislate morality. If these are consenting adults, which apparently they were, where’s the crime?” Garner said. “That’s the problem.”

Times correspondent Jeff Bean contributed to this story.