Nxivm doc’s painful fate
Cult ‘brand’ gal may lose med license
The New York doctor who allegedly branded “slaves” in the Nxivm cult could now lose her medical license.
Dr. Danielle Roberts is accused of searing the initials of Nxivm founder Keith Raniere and/or “Smallville” actress Allison Mack into the “pelvis region” of 13 women, according to charges filed against her by the state Board for Professional Medical Conduct.
Six of the women were naked when Roberts wielded a cauterizing pen to brand them as they were restrained by other nude followers, while one filmed the procedure on a cellphone, the state alleges.
The women were told to take daily pictures of the initials for a month, and then weekly for another month, and send them to someone who shared the images with Roberts, according to the state.
A hearing is scheduled for May on the 47 misconduct counts against the osteopath, including willfully abusing a patient and “moral unfitness” while practicing medicine.
She was named in a civil suit in January, along with Nxivm leaders, for her role branding members “in their pubic areas, without their informed consent and without anesthesia,” court papers allege.
Roberts, 38, was not implicated criminally in the Nxivm case, which led to Raniere’s conviction in June on charges that included racketeering and sex trafficking. Raniere is scheduled to be sentenced in May and faces 15 years to life in prison.
During the cult leader’s trial, Nxivm member-turned-whistleblower Mark Vicente said of Roberts, “I believe she was a slave and a master and the person who actually did the branding . . . She was the brander.”
Vicente took photos of women partying in the cult’s resort on a Fijian island, including one showing a bikini-clad Roberts.
The branding ceremonies for members of Nxivm’s secret “sorority” called DOS took place in the upstate home of one of the cult’s leaders.
Another Nxivm doctor, Brandon Porter, who did controversial “fright studies” for cult members, had his license revoked by the state in August.
The state could pull Roberts’ license if the charges against her are substantiated.
She could not be reached for comment.