Keith Raniere, founder of the Nxivm self-help group that prosecutors say housed a secret sex cult, was found guilty of trafficking and other crimes. Follow live updates:
From CNN's Nicole Chavez and Sonia Moghea secret group within NxivmFor two decades, Raniere ran Nxivm from Albany, New York, and offered pricey"self-help" classes to thousands of people across the United States, Canada and Mexico. An actress who testified in court during his trial said he was revered by his students, and some saw him as one of the smartest men in the world.: They said Raniere initially recruited eight women within Nxivm's ranks to join the secret sex society.
Multiple women testified they were misled about joining the group and were told it was a"women's empowerment" group. They later found out they would become"slaves" who would be expected to have sex with Raniere, send him nude photos and allow themselves to be branded.Agnifilo previously told CNN he felt that Raniere firmly believes his ideas are sound, humanitarian ideas.
"He thinks DOS is a good idea and is a pro-woman group. He created it to have women have their own society ... where men would play no role," Agnifilo said. In his closing arguments, Agnifilo cautioned jurors to consider whether any actual crimes have been committed. He argued there was no sex trafficking in DOS because there was no commercial aspect to the sexual activities alleged by the victims.
Raniere faces a racketeering count, which itself has more than a dozen underlying acts as part of the charge, and jurors have to find two of them to be proven in order to return a guilty verdict for racketeering.
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