NXIVM, an organization that allegedly brainwashed and blackmailed women into being “sex slaves,” has crumbled in the past year. In March 2018, its founder, Keith Raniere, was arrested and charged with sex trafficking for his role in the group, which then set off a domino effect: In the ensuing months, federal prosecutors would go on to charge more and more people for their alleged involvement, some of whom have now begun to plead guilty. The picture painted of NXIVM in media reports is disturbing, to say the least: that the purported “self-help organization” was instead a front for a sex cult that branded numerous female members with Raniere’s initials and coerced them into “master-slave” relationships.
While the case is far from over — Raniere, for example, has yet to go to trial — the past few months have seen the emergence of some truly abhorrent details pertaining to the case, relating to everything from enslavement to child pornography.
Here’s what we know so far.
Co-founder Nancy Salzman admitted in court that she tracked and monitored women within NXIVM.
Nancy Salzman, who was the first person involved in the case to plead guilty to her single charge of racketeering conspiracy, tearfully confessed in court on March 13 that she tracked and monitored the usernames and passwords of suspected moles in the group to ensure they weren’t leaking details about the group’s inner workings. She also admitted that she ordered others to “destroy video tapes” that documented Raniere’s “teachings.”
“I want you to know I am pleading guilty because I am, in fact, guilty,” she said through sobs. “I accept that some of the things I did were not just wrong, but sometimes criminal.”
Prosecutors believe that founder Keith Raniere had sex with a 15-year-old girl, who later became his first “slave.”
At a Brooklyn courthouse on March 14, Raniere — who was already facing forced labor, wire fraud conspiracy, human trafficking, and sex trafficking charges — was hit with an additional charge of child pornography. According to prosecutors, Raniere documented himself engaging in sexual conduct with a 15-year-old girl, who would go on to become his first “slave.” Prosecutors also accused Raniere of having had a sexual relationship with at least one other child, and of possessing child pornography between 2005 and 2018.
Nancy Salzman’s daughter Lauren admitted to keeping a woman as a slave.
On April 2, Lauren Salzman pleaded guilty to one count of racketeering conspiracy, revealing that she had “knowingly and intentionally harbored” an unnamed woman in a locked room from March 2010 to April 2012; when the woman “did not complete [requested] labor,” Salzman confessed that she threatened to deport her back to Mexico.
Salzman also admitted to being a member of DOS, the internal sorority within NXIVM which prosecutors say was a “master-slave” sex ring. (The group also allegedly branded women with Raniere’s initials.)
Actress Allison Mack “took full responsibility” for her involvement in NXIVM, and notably DOS.
The highest-profile person involved in the case, Smallville actress Allison Mack, pleaded guilty on April 8 to one count of racketeering conspiracy and one count of racketeering. “I have come to the conclusion that I must take full responsibility for my conduct, and that’s why I am pleading guilty today,” she said through tears. She went on to admit that she was a member of DOS, and said she had attempted to recruit other women into the group. She also said that she coerced women into giving her embarrassing information and photographs, known within the group as “collateral,” in order to blackmail them into going along with NXIVM and Raniere’s demands.
“I’m very sorry for the victims of this case,” she said in court. “I’m very sorry for who I’ve hurt through my misguided adherence to Keith Raniere’s teachings.”