US prosecutors on Friday asked for life imprisonment for Keith Raniere, sentenced in June 2019 for sex trafficking after having long been the guru of an organization that allowed him to maintain a harem of sex slaves.
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Keith Raniere, 60, had been convicted of all seven counts against him – including sexual exploitation of a 15-year-old girl, extortion and criminal conspiracy – after a six-week trial in federal court in Brooklyn.
His sentence should be set at a hearing scheduled for October 27.
Beyond the seriousness of the crimes, his conduct since his conviction “testifies to a total denial of guilt,” prosecutors say in a document recorded in court on Friday.
“He continues to have regular contact with his fans”, “shows no empathy for his victims”, and “would continue to commit crimes if released”.
They notably cite emails in which Raniere presents his organization as “a good thing”, something potentially “sacred”, and openly wonders who “will take up the torch”.
Keith Raniere hid his practices behind an organization called Nxivm (pronounced Nexium), founded in 2003, whose official purpose was to provide training for better personal fulfillment.
From the start, this charismatic figure had cultivated a circle of 15 to 20 women under the influence, with whom he had sex at will. One of them was only 15 years old.
During his trial, the prosecution portrayed him as a manipulator, using conventional psychological means to keep women under the influence, relying on a few trusted people to recruit others.
The defense had tried, unsuccessfully, to distinguish between morality and legality in Keith Raniere’s behavior.
The one who called himself “Vanguard” always claimed that sex with cult members was consensual.
Keith Raniere’s five co-defendants have, one after another, pleaded guilty and avoided trial.
Among them are the heiress of the Seagram spirits empire, Clare Bronfman, whose sentence is expected to be known on September 30, and actress Allison Mack, for whom a sentencing date has not yet been decided.
The story has been the subject of two screen adaptations: a nine-episode docu-series, The Vow, which just came out on HBO, which emphasizes the non-sexual side of the organization, and a film by Lisa Robinson, Escaping the Nxivm Cult, released in 2019, around the testimony of a mother who tried to get her daughter out of the organization.
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