Keith Raniere, NXIVM Cult Leader Who Coerced Women Into Having Sex With Him, Now Also Charged With Child Pornography

Keith Raniere, the spiritual leader of secret society aka sex cult NXIVM, has been hit with one more charge before his trial begins at the end of April: child pornography. Federal authorities revealed the new allegations on Wednesday, claiming to have images of two minors that were taken and distributed by Raniere; one of the victims was only 15 years old when he entered into a sexual relationship with her.

Raniere worked closely with associates Nancy Salzman and actress Allison Mack to groom women into becoming sex slaves, many of whom were eventually branded near their pelvic bones with Raniere’s initials with a cauterizing pen. Of course, some of the women had no idea that they were permanently being marked with his initials, believing the symbol to represent something spiritual, according to a piece published in the New York Times magazine last spring.

The piece documented how women were manipulated by Salzman into believing they were making empowering decisions for themselves through NXIVM’s spiritually enlightened take on self-help. In speaking with one victim, Salzman appeared to be delving into the predilection that unenlightened women have for being “helpless,” explaining, “Women are allowed to be dependent on men. A great part of being a woman is no matter how you screw up your life, you can always move back in with your dad. Every time you have chosen to stay dependent, you have made a decision not to be independent.”

Salzman, in court on Wednesday, pleaded guilty to racketeering and identity theft charges leveled against her and also admitted to destroying evidence of Raniere’s “teachings.” She’ll be sentenced this summer and will likely face several years in prison. “It has taken some time and soul searching to come to this place,” she said in a court statement. “I accept that some of what I did was not just wrong, but criminal. … If I could go back and do it all over again, I would. But I can’t.”

Raniere, himself, has denied all charges of sex and human trafficking, forced labor, and wire fraud conspiracy, on top of the most recent child pornography allegations. Mack, an actress who you might recognize from the early 2000s show Smallville, has also denied similar charges; she has been accused of being Raniere’s right hand woman for recruiting new sex slaves for NXIVM.

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