Keith Raniere, the disgraced leader of a self-improvement group in upstate New York, has been sentenced to 120 years in prison, authorities said Tuesday.
But prosecutors said that the group took a dark turn in 2015 when Raniere added a secret female-only society known as DOS or "The Vow.".
In court documents and publicly, former members of DOS claim they were forced to hand over collateral, including nude photos, in order to join the organization.
Raniere collected "collateral" from the women in the group, including nude photos, to keep them under his control, prosecutors said.
In the civil lawsuit filed in January against Raniere and other leaders of NXIVM, some former members of DOS said they were forced to disrobe during the branding ceremony, read from a script stating they had requested the branding, and then lie down on a table and submit to the branding.
Prosecutors also accused Raniere of having sex with a 15-year-old when he was 45 and taking nude photos of the underage victim, and of keeping another victim confined to a room for nearly two years. .
Mack, who was accused of helping Raniere recruit women, pleaded guilty to racketeering charges in 2019 and is awaiting sentencing.
Before Raniere was sentenced, a group of his supporters submitted a letter to the judge alleging that they had proof of evidence tampering, CBS New York reported
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