Nxivm trial: Sex cult 'slave' details her daily life

The witness, who was identified in court only as Sylvie and who testified for several hours, described being recruited by a “master,” feeling compelled to allow the leader of the group, Keith Raniere, to perform oral sex on her and narrowly avoiding being branded with his initials.

Raniere, 58, who has been indicted on several charges, including racketeering conspiracy, extortion, forced labor and sex trafficking, co-founded Nxivm (pronounced Nex-e-um) as a self-help organization in the 1990s. Prosecutors, however, have said that he used the organization to exert control over the lives of his followers, including women who joined a clandestine sorority — known as DOS — within the group.

Women who joined that group were referred to as “slaves” and were obliged to turn over to other members, known as “masters,” compromising or embarrassing material. This “collateral” would ensure their unquestioning compliance, prosecutors have said.

Sylvie said that soon after joining DOS, she was directed by her “master,” Monica Duran, to ask Raniere to photograph her and “go along with whatever else happened.”

Sylvie said that she met Raniere, who was known within Nxivm as “Vanguard,” inside a house where he told her to undress. He then performed oral sex on her. Even though she did not want any sexual contact with him, she testified that she felt powerless to object, adding, “That was a command from my master and that was my role as a slave.”

After the oral sex, Sylvie said that Raniere told her, “Now you’re part of the inner circle.”

“All around that time I felt so much shame about this cult thing,” she testified, her voice breaking. “Everything was just lies and deceit and darkness.”

Later, while being questioned by a defense lawyer, Sylvie acknowledged that she told Raniere after the encounter that she loved him.

Sylvie, who grew up in Britain, came to the United States when she was 18 and lived on a farm where she took care of horses belonging to Clare Bronfman, the Seagram’s liquor heiress who was a high-ranking member of Nxivm.

Over the next decade, the group exerted a pull on her, according to her testimony. At one point, she said, Raniere suggested she leave a job she had obtained with Goldman Sachs. Bronfman also told her she would have to quit a running club she was part of.

Sylvie testified that she joined a Nxivm-related group called Jness that she said espoused, among other things, that women were victimizers who liked to pose as victims.

“I started to hate the fact that I was a woman,” she said.

By the time Sylvie was invited to join DOS — the initials are an acronym for a Latin phrase that roughly translates to “Lord/Master of the Obedient Female Companions” — she was eager to join, she testified. She thought it might help her improve as a person, she said, even though she had no idea what being part of the group would entail.

She said she provided collateral in the form of a letter where she claimed to her parents that she was a prostitute.

In her roughly two years with DOS, Sylvie said, she followed any directive given to her by Duran, including the order to recruit “slaves” of her own and obtain collateral from them. She was also compelled by Duran, she said, to provide additional collateral of her own, including a letter that gave Duran the power to say whether or not Sylvie could have children.

Duran directed Sylvie to walk her dog, pick up her prescriptions and do her grocery shopping, she testified. She said Duran also gave her a necklace called a “dog collar” that was meant to symbolize their relationship and came with what was supposed to be an unbreakable clasp.

At a certain point, Sylvie said, she was told that other DOS members were being branded with Raniere’s initials and she heard that some were being struck with paddles. Newspaper stories and blog posts about the group began to appear and DOS’s activities seemed to slow down as a result.

Sylvie’s branding, which she said was in the process of being scheduled, never took place.

Raniere began Nxivm in the 1990s in an Albany, New York, suburb, offering workshops and promising to teach participants the way to greater fulfillment. About 16,000 people took Nxivm courses, paying thousands of dollars apiece.

Five women who were charged alongside him have pleaded guilty, leaving Raniere to stand trial alone. High-profile acolytes of Raniere included Bronfman and Allison Mack, an actress known for her role in the television series “Smallville.”

Mack, one of the women who was charged as a co-defendant and has pleaded guilty, recruited other women into DOS, prosecutors have said.

On cross-examination by Raniere’s lawyer, Marc Agnifilo, Sylvie acknowledged that her collateral was never made public, and said that she had disobeyed directions by erasing messages between her and Raniere.

She also said that the “majority of the time” Raniere was “sweet” to her.

Agnifilo presented Sylvie with a series of messages that she had exchanged with Raniere in 2016 and 2017 on the messaging system WhatsApp.

Several messages that she sent included photographs showing parts of her nude body; affectionate-like emojis (such as hearts); and requests to meet with Raniere, according to Agnifilo’s descriptions. The messages were shown to Sylvie but not to the courtroom gallery.

Sylvie said that she sent frequent messages to Raniere as part of what she perceived as her DOS obligations. Although she did not actually love Raniere, she added, she thought she had probably told him many times that she did.

“If I was the best slave,” she said she believed, “things would work out for me.”

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.