The FBI has accused a self-styled self-help guru of turning his female followers in “sex slaves”.
Keith Raniere has been charged with a number of sex trafficking offences after agents arrested him in Mexico.
Prosecutors claim the co-founder of the Nxivm cult group oversaw a “master and slave” system that involved women members having sex with him, carrying out menial chores and being branded with his initials.
Raniere’s arrest comes after a number of women spoke with the New York Times in October last year about how they were treated while they members of the shadowy group, which describes itself as a “community guided by humanitarian principles that seeks to empower people and answer important questions about what it means to be human”.
The 57-year-old, who is expected to appear in court in Texas today, has been charged with sex trafficking, sex trafficking conspiracy and forced labour conspiracy.
Known as the “Vanguard” by his followers, Raniere left the US last year after former members of his secretive group spoke with the New York Times about his alleged abusive behaviour.
Since fleeing the country, prosecutors allege the cult leader has made efforts to cover his tracks and avoid detection by using encrypted email and avoiding mobile phones.
While Raniere’s lawyers were not immediately available for comment yesterday, the cult leader has previously strenuously denied the accusations made against him, writing in a letter posted on his group’s website: “These allegations are most disturbing to me as non-violence is one of my most important values.”
The complaint against him alleges that victims were forced to participate in filmed ceremonies that involved them being branded with Raniere’s initials close to the pelvic area.
“During the branding ceremonies, slaves were required to be fully naked, and the master would order one slave to film while the other held down the slave being branded,” the complaint says.
Prosecutors allege that Raniere had a penchant for extremely thin women, which resulted in his “slaves” being forced to adhere to a very low-calorie diets to avoid putting on too much weight.
Women who refused to follow orders are said to have been forced to attend “classes”, during which they were compelled to “wear fake cow udders over their breasts while people called them derogatory names”, or were threatened with being locked up in cages.
In a biography on his group’s website, Raniere is grandly described as a “scientist, mathematician, philosopher, entrepreneur, educator, inventor and author [who has] devoted his life to studying the human psychodynamic and developing new tools for human empowerment, expression and ethics”.
Investigators allege Raniere enjoyed the backing of several wealthy individuals.
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