The cult forced female members into financial vulnerability and eventual sex slavery, while disguising itself as a personal development mentoring group.
The leaders of New York-based organization NXIVM (aka “Nexium”), a cult disguised as a mentoring group, are facing decades in prison for racketeering and child pornography, Fox News reported.
Keith Raniere, 58, who is already involved in a case alleging he coerced women into being sex slaves, complete with branding them with his initials below the waist, has also been charged with child pornography after inappropriate images of a 15-year-old were unearthed, the court documents say. They also say there is evidence that Raniere had been messaging with the minor, and that the messages suggest a sexual relationship.
Raniere was charged mere hours after another cult leader, Nancy Salzman, 65, pleaded guilty to stealing critics’ email addresses and tampering with evidence. She is to be sentenced on 10 July on charges of racketeering, NBC reports. She will face a total of 33 to 41 years in prison.
Raniere and Salzman face prosecution along with “Smallville” actress Allison Mack and Clare Bronfman, daughter of billionaire philanthropist and former chair of Seagram, the Quebec-based liquor giant.
Actresses Linked to an Alleged Sex Cult
Nicki Clyne, Kristin Kreuk and Grace Park were all active students of Keith Raniereâs self-help empire.
Nicki Clyne, Kristin Kreuk and Grace Park
Allegedly,
Kristin Kreuk NXIVM Sex Tape?
Kristin Kreuk (Age 35) is a Canadian actress known for her roles in series âSmallvilleâ, Canadian teen drama âEdgemontâ, series âBeauty & the Beastâ. Sheâs a pescetarian (diet where u eat only fish and sea food, but not other animal flesh).
RTÂ reports:Â It is now alleged that Raniere, better known as âVanguardâ or âMasterâ within the secretive group, coerced underage girls to participate in porn photoshoots for more than 10 years. He then kept files with sexually explicit images and stored them on a hard drive.
The memorandum issued by the district attorneyâs office stated that other high-ranking members of NXIVM that were put on trial along with Raniere were well aware of their leaderâs sexual relationships with minors. One of the underage victims was identified as âa fifteen-year-old girlâ who was working for the groupâs co-founder, Nancy Salzman.
The same day new charges against Raniere were filed, Salzman pleaded guilty to a racketeering charge. The teen became âRaniereâs first-line slaveâ in the clandestine sorority group within NXIVM known as DOS, which stands for âdominant over submissiveâ in Latin.
Another victim was described only as âa childâ whose sexual relationship with the âguruâ was âknownâ and âfacilitatedâ by other members.
Raniere was arrested in his luxury hideout in Mexico in March last year and flown to the US, where he, along with other prominent members, including Hollywood actress Allison Mack and liquor heiress Clare Bronfman, were indicted on a number of charges. Apart from the new child porn allegation, Raniere has already been charged with forced labor conspiracy, wire fraud conspiracy, sex trafficking, attempted sex trafficking, racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking conspiracy, and conspiracy to commit identity theft.
Clare Bronfman & Smallville’s Alison Mack
The court papers described DOS as a pyramid structure with Raniere, who was the only man in the sorority, solely at the top. New members, or âslaves,â who were recruited into NXIVM were forced to give collateral to ensure that they would keep mum about the group. The collateral was sexually explicit images or videos, as well as true or untrue allegations made against themselves or their family which were filmed. The âslavesâ were blackmailed into providing new collateral, sometimes as often as every month, which saw them signing over their assets or doing things that might kill their careers if made public.
Raniere is accused of subjecting members of DOS to physical and psychological torture such as self-induced sleep-deprivation. Raniere also instructed his female followers to have their genital areas branded with his initials and told them to survive on a 800-calorie diet, all under the guise of womenâs empowerment.
NXIVM was funded by wealthy donors and through personal development courses. A five-day workshop cost as much as $5,000.