Allison Mack, an actress best known for starring in Smallville and Wilfred, was arrested on Friday for her involvement with the alleged cult NXIVM. She, along with founder Keith Raniere, were charged with sex trafficking, sex trafficking conspiracy, and forced labor conspiracy, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
“As alleged in the indictment, Allison Mack recruited women to join what was purported to be a female mentorship group that was, in fact, created and led by Keith Raniere,” United States attorney Richard P. Donoghue said in a statement. “The victims were then exploited, both sexually and for their labor, to the defendants’ benefit.” The details of the upstate New York-based group (pronounced “Nexium”), with centers throughout the globe, are harrowing.
According to a complaint, Raniere, known within the group as “Vanguard,” oversaw a barbaric system in which women were told the best way to advance was to become a “slave” overseen by “masters.” They also were expected to have sex with him and do menial chores for masters, and to keep the arrangement a secret or be publicly humiliated. (Via)
If convicted, Mack and Raniere, who was arrested in Mexico in March (he publicly referred to NXIVM as a “sorority,” reports the Times Union, but through private messaging accounts, referred to it as “Dominus Obsequious Sororium,” or “Master Over the Slave Women), face a minimum of 15 years in prison.
(Via The Hollywood Reporter and Times Union)