No release for creepy sex cultist
Judge denies Nxivm leader bail bid
Accused Nxivm sex-cult leader Keith Raniere will remain behind bars for now, a judge ruled Tuesday.
The 57-year-old’s lawyers had asked that he be released on $10 million bail and tough restrictions — including home confinement and armed private guards overseen by a former Secret Service honcho — but it wasn’t enough for the judge.
“[He] appears to have access to enormous economic resources provided by a third party,” said Brooklyn federal court Judge Nicholas Garaufis. “The bond is worthless given his lack of personal assets.”
The judge also said the setup sounded like “a private jail” and questioned whether the armed guards were to keep Raniere inside — or protect him from the press.
“What the court may be sanctioning is a private jail with all the accoutrements of a mansion,” Garaufis said. “It sort of makes a mockery of the system of justice when other people can’t pull together $100 to get out of Rikers.”
He also noted that Raniere is a “flight risk.”
Prosecutors argued Raniere also poses a threat to witnesses and alleged victims if released.
“With one text, he can mobilize an army around the world,” said lead prosecutor Moira Penza.
Raniere appeared healthy, tanned and in good spirits as he sat in court alongside “Smallville” actress Allison Mack, his accused slave master and second in command.
He didn’t look at her once — instead fixing his gaze on Penza.
But Mack, 35, who has been out on $5 million bail and living with her parents in Los Angeles since April, looked confused and scared — and afterwards fled from reporters, muttering, “Oh, they found us” as the press pack swarmed.
The pair face charges of sex trafficking and forced labor — and up to 15 years behind bars if convicted.
Raniere is accused of creating a personal harem of sex servants inside his Albany-based self-help organization Nxivm — women Mack allegedly recruited under the guise of joining a women’s-empowerment group and then blackmailed into becoming his “slaves.”
The women had their genital regions branded with Raniere’s initials and were kept on extreme diets, prosecutors say.
Garaufis said Raniere can still refile his bail application — this time with more transparency on his finances and who would be footing the bill.
Nxivm and Raniere — who recently told The New York Times that he lives “under the poverty level” — are bankrolled by Seagram whiskey heiress Clare Bronfman, according to prosecutors.