NXIVM leader Keith Raniere found guilty on all counts, could face life in jail - Global News

The former leader of a purported self-help group was convicted Wednesday of federal charges that centered on lurid details of what prosecutors called a secret society of “sex slaves” within a community of followers in upstate New York.Story continues belowA jury in federal court in Brooklyn took less than five hours to find Keith Raniere, the leader of so-called “sex cult” NXIVM, guilty on all counts of sex trafficking and other charges accusing him of coercing women into unwanted sex using systematic shame and humiliation.Raniere listened attentively, but showed no visible reaction as he learned the verdict.READ MORE: Allison Mack cries as she pleads guilty in NXIVM sex slave caseProsecutors had told jurors that someone known as “Vanguard” and revered as “the smartest man in the world” among some followers was actually a creepy con man who barely got passing grades in college.The sorority, sometimes called “The Vow,” was created “to satisfy the defendant’s desire for sex, power and control,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Moira Penza said in closing arguments.Among the more damning allegations against Raniere were that he had some women branded with his initials and that he started having sex with one of his followers starting at age 15. Prosecutors said he took a series of nude photos of the teen that were shown at trial, one by one, to the eight women and four men who comprised the jury.Raniere kept the child pornography stashed in his private study as “a trophy” of “his sexual conquest,” Penza said.READ MORE: NXIVM co-founder Nancy Salzman pleads guilty to racketeering conspiracyThe defence argued Raniere was a genuine believer in unconventional means for self-improvement and that all his sexual encounters with female followers of his organization were consensual. His behaviour could be seen as “repulsive and offensive, but we don’t convict people in this country for being repulsive or offensive,” attorney Marc Agnifilo said in his closings.Raniere, 58, was arrested at a Mexican hideout in 2018 following an investigation his Albany-area group, that once had an international following with a foothold in Hollywood but was called a cult by critics. His adherents included TV actor Allison Mack, best known for her role as a friend of a young Superman in the series Smallville, and Seagram’s liquor fortune heiress, Clare Bronfman.Raniere’s organization began to crumble amid sensational reports about The Vow alleging its members were held down and branded in ceremonies at a “sorority house” for them that had a mock dungeon.Mack and Bronfman, who were named as defendants with Raniere in a federal indictment, pleaded guilty before they could go to trial with him. They didn’t testify, leaving a cooperating member of his inner circle and three victims from the secret sorority as the key witnesses.WATCH BELOW: Allison Mack appears in resurfaced video promoting alleged sex cultAllison Mack appears in resurfaced video promoting alleged sex cult

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June 20, 2019 at 02:26AM