NXIVM Mastermind Keith Raniere Reportedly Ordered To Pony Up $3.5 Million To Victims To Cover Cost Of Repairing Scars From Branding
Disgraced sex cult leader Keith Raniere was reportedly ordered to pony up $3.46 million to his victims.
21 victims in total will receive a portion of the money, part of which will go towards medical procedures to cover the cost to repair the scars inflicted upon the women after Raniere forcefully had his initials burned into their skin.
Victims who were forcefully branded by NXIVM were awarded about $2,500 to cover the cost associated with removing Raniere’s initials, as well as to cover the costs of past and future mental health services.
The women were members of the sect within the multi-level marketing-style cult that went by the name "DOS". Members of the group were labeled as “slaves” and were forced to provide “collateral” to their “masters.” The “collateral,” which often included dirty pictures and obscene messages, was used to force obedience.
Some of the harsh abuse the women reportedly endured included starvation, branding, and other physical and mental abuses such as demanding text messages at all hours of the night.
The mandate was ordered by a Brooklyn Federal Court judge on Tuesday, nearly two years after Raniere was convicted in 2019. The cult leader was convicted on seven charges, including sex trafficking, racketeering and forced labor conspiracy. The 60-year-old was sentenced to 120 years behind bars in October.
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Sarah Edmondson, who appeared in the HBO documentary The Vow, was awarded payment, reported The New York Times. The largest amount of restitution was awarded to an unidentified girl at the center of the child pornography charges Raniere was convicted of.
Prosecutors stated that the girl was 15 when Raniere began having a sexual relationship with her, and coerced her to send him sexually explicit photographs. She was ordered to receive more than $500,000, which is meant to cover the cost to have her brand removed and for uncompensated labor and expenses related to the case.
The restitution ruling comes shortly after actress Allison Mack was sentenced to three years in federal prison for her involvement in NXIVM, where she was accused of “branding” and "brainwashing" women.
The 38-year-old Smallville alum was also forced to pay a $20,000 fine, according to court documents obtained by OK!.
