‘Smallville’s’ Mack is tied to sex-slave gang
ACTRESS ALLISON Mack went from “Smallville” to the Brooklyn big house.
Mack was jailed without bail Friday after authorities busted Clark Kent’s TV pal for her starring role as an major recruiter of female sex slaves for the male leader of a creepy upstate cult.
Mack, 35, was identified as “one of the top members of a highly-organized scheme which was designed to provide sex to her codefendant,” said Assistant U.S. Attorney Moira Penza.
“Under the guise of female empowerment, she starved women until they fit her co-defendant’s sexual ideal.”
Her co-defendant is cult leader Keith Raniere, who remains locked up pending a court appearance this coming Friday.
Mack arrived in Brooklyn Federal Court for her arraignment looking nervous and haggard in boots, black pants and a light blue denim shirt. She was arrested earlier Friday at her Brooklyn home.
“Yes,” she said quietly when Federal Court Judge Cheryl Pollack asked if she understood what was happening. The actress’ lawyers entered a plea of not guilty on her behalf.
Her attorneys will return to court Monday to make another pitch for bail. She was expected to spend the weekend at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn.
Mack was living with Raniere at a $10,000-a-week villa in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, when he was arrested last month.
Prosecutors said Mack should face house arrest because of the potential for witness intimidation, given her position at the high end of the cult’s hierarchy.
The women were aggressively recruited to join a secret society known as “DOS,” pitched as an all-female group intent on gender empowerment.
According to court documents, Mack instead turned the new members into slaves required to engage in sexual activity with Raniere at their upstate base.
Mack turned over naked photos of her slaves to Raniere and knew of his pervy penchant for sex with “multiple young women,” according to a detention letter filed by the feds.
In a quid-pro-quo for serving as Raniere’s pimp, Mack received “financial and other benefits” from the cult leader, authorities charged.
Mack, if convicted on charges of sex trafficking, sex trafficking conspiracy and forced labor conspiracy, faces 15 years to life in prison.
The West German-born actress debuted in the part of Chloe Sullivan on “Smallville” in October 2001, staying around for its 10-season run on the WB/CW network.
She also did four years on the FX sitcom “Wilfred” opposite star Elijah Wood.
The slaves were also required to strip naked and succumb to a ritual where each was branded near the pelvis with a symbol incorporating Raniere’s initials, officials said.
During those “ceremonies,” court papers said, Mack placed her hands on the weeping slaves' chests while instructing the women to “feel the pain ... think of (their) master.”
The cult endured as an ongoing extortion plot, with the women forced to follow Raniere’s directions after revealing “highly damaging information about themselves or family members,” authorities charged.
Raniere threatened to expose the tawdry details of their confessions unless the women went along with the self-serving tenets of his bizarre society.