Actress Allison Mack charged for recruiting women for sex cult
ACTRESS Allison Mack, best known for her decade on TV’s “Smallville,” and Keith Raniere, the leader of what authorities allege is a sex cult, were indicted on Friday in New York on federal charges of sex trafficking and conspiracy to commit forced labour, the Albany Times-Union reported.
Raniere and Mack are each charged with multiple counts, and could face a minimum of 15 years in prison. Mack was arrested in New York City on Friday and will be held pending a bail hearing on Monday. Raniere has been in custody since he was arrested in Mexico in March.
Raniere is the founder of NXIVM, which bills itself as a self-help and empowerment organisation, but is described by authorities as a cultlike group whose members recruited women to be sex slaves, and branded their pubic regions with Raniere’s initials.
The Rochester Democrat & Chronicle said Mack was indicted “for her role in DOS, a group ... that purported to be a women’s empowerment sorority. Prosecutors, however, say DOS was actually a sexslave ring led by Raniere, with women known as ‘slaves’ who reported to ‘masters’ who ultimately reported to Raniere himself. Mack is an alleged coconspirator, reporting directly to Raniere.”
Mack, 35, is alleged by prosecutors to have recruited slaves for pay, forcing the women to have sex with Raniere, and using explicit photos and damaging information to ensure their compliance.
According to the Associated Press, prosecutors said Mack told recruits that they were joining a female mentorship group.
“Mack and other ... masters recruited ... slaves by telling them that they were joining a women-only organisation that would empower them and eradicate purported weaknesses the NVIVM curriculum taught were common in women,” prosecutors said.
But “the victims were then exploited, both sexually and for their labour to the defendants’ benefit,” said US Attorney Richard P. Donoghue of the Eastern District of New York in Brooklyn.
Assistant US Attorney Moira Kim Penza also said in court that “under the guise of female empowerment,” Mack “starved women until they fit her codefendant’s sexual ideal,” the AP wrote.
Mack starred in the CW Network series as Chloe Sullivan from 2001 to 2011, and has been in a handful of television series roles since, according to her IMDB page. According to CBS News: “Former NXIVM publicist Frank Parlato told Inside Edition that Mack is “completely enamoured with Raniere and completely under his thrall.”
He also said that Mack and her “Smallville” co-star, Kristin Kreuk, were used as “poster girls for normalising the group.” Kreuk says she left NXIVM years ago and commended the women who exposed DOS.” — Washington Post.
Mack and other ... masters recruited ... slaves by telling them that they were joining a womenonly organisation that would empower them and eradicate purported weaknesses the NVIVM curriculum taught were common in women. — Prosecutors