Escape, a BDSM support/education/social group, originated in Las Vegas, Nevada and was founded by Renee LiGate in 1993.

In 1994, she and James founded Escape East in Richmond, Virginia as well.

In 1997 (after her 1996 marriage to James), Renee closed the doors of Escape in Las Vegas and moved permanently to Richmond. Many of Escape's members created a new group to fill the void left by Renee's departure.

Also in 1997, James took advantage of an evolving opportunity and began The Mining Company's BDSM site. MiningCo -- later renamed to About.com -- was a very visible location and made BDSM information freely available to anyone who wanted or needed it.

Escape East continued to thrive until 1999, when several things occurred which led the group to become "inactive." James and Renee faced several significant heath issues that year, as well as increasing commitments both personally and professionally. As several other area groups had developed, the need for Escape was less significant. It seemed the right time to step aside and let others take the lead with providing a place to meet, learn and play together.

In January of 2001, About.com instituted "Adult Check" for many of its adult-content sites, including BDSM. Information that had previously been freely available was now restricted to those with, or willing to pay for, an Adult Check account. Believing this to be contrary to the site's mission, James resigned from About.com and began devoting time instead to Abbot's Place. His personal site, which was previously used to keep people informed on what was happening inside About.com with the Adult Check situation, is now evolving into a small but hopefully useful resource for the BDSM community.

We will always want to assist in whatever way we can, but mostly unavoidable circumstances now dictate that we take a more "behind the scenes" role. We will try to offer information about what to look for in a group, where to find one near you, and questions you may want to ask or expect to answer when becoming involved with a group such as Escape. Most of the information we will provide will be within Abbot's Place, but if you have a specific question that is not covered here and all else fails, please contact Renee directly at escape5@mindspring.com.