US ‘sex slave’ guru goes on trial in New York
NEW YORK: Sex slaves, branding, actresses, heiresses, extortion and fraud – a jury in New York began hearing evidence about all of that and more.
An American “self-help” guru who allegedly ran a cult-like society of women sex slaves has gone on trial in Brooklyn, and some of his former female supporters were the first to take the stand.
Six people had been due to appear in the dock, but 58-year-old Keith Raniere will now be the only one to stand trial. He faces a host of federal charges, including sex trafficking, extortion and conspiracy.
The other five – all women who held management positions in various organisations headed by Raniere, including actress Allison Mack – have pleaded guilty one by one and avoided going on trial.
Raniere was the leader of Nxivm (pronounced Nexium), a purported life coaching group that prosecutors say instead extorted money from followers and enabled the accused to sexually exploit female devotees.
Over the course of two decades, more than 16,000 people took at least one of Raniere’s “self-help” workshops, which promised to develop a student’s “human potential” – to the tune of US$5,000 (RM20,740) for a five-day course.
Many who signed up quickly became indebted and ended up having to work for Nxivm to pay for their courses.
“He was a mentor, but he was a predator,” federal prosecutor Tanya Hajjar said in her opening statement.
“He was a leader of a criminal organisation.”
Raniere was visibly relaxed – even smiling -- and taking copious notes during the proceedings.
From the beginning, Raniere – who asked followers to call him “Vanguard” – is believed to have had a circle of 15 to 20 women under his influence, with whom he had sex at will.
One may have been only 15 years old when she joined the group’s inner sanctum.
Based in Albany, the state capital of New York, the organisation had centres in several cities across the United States, Canada, Mexico and other Central American countries. It has now been disbanded.