This story is crazy, but it's even crazier when you grew up in the same town and went to school with one of the perpetrators. (and by perpetrator, I should really be more sensitive and say "victim". I'm sure it's confusing for many of those involved.)
Nxivm leader’s lawyer says ‘disgusting lifestyles’ aren’t criminal By Emily Saul and Lia Eustachewich June 18, 2019 | 12:00pm | Updated Enlarge Image A sketch shows Keith Raniere (right) taking notes while sitting in the courtroom.Reuters MORE ON: NXIVM Nxivm leader's former sex den has been condemned Watch 'Dynasty' actress Catherine Oxenberg reveal Nxivm verdict to leader's former sex slave Nxivm leader Keith Raniere found guilty on all counts in sex cult trial Nxivm leader liked 'sex slaves' thin – but pigged out on junk food Keith Raniere’s own lawyer acknowledged Tuesday that there is a mountain of “repulsive, disgusting and offensive” evidence against the accused sex-cult leader — but claimed none of it can be tied to a crime. “We don’t convict people in this country for being repulsive and offensive,” lawyer Marc Agnifilo told Brooklyn federal jurors as he wrapped up his closing arguments. “Disgusting lifestyles aren’t criminal.” Nxivm founder Raniere, 58, is facing up to life in prison for allegedly recruiting a harem of “sex slaves” for himself through the purported self-help organization. Raniere was known as “grandmaster” to the women, who were allegedly starved and sexually and emotionally abused under his directive. But Agnifilo insisted his client is “not mighty. He’s not great. He’s not godlike. He’s none of those things. He sits there and creates curriculum.” Prosecutors have compared Raniere to a “crime boss.” They fired back in a rebuttal statement Tuesday that if Raniere’s alleged cult wasn’t about sex, then why was he building a dungeon featuring cages, rubber-spiked paddles and “puppy trainer’’ dog collars to use on female members? “So let me get this straight: What was going to happen in the dungeon? With the cages and the tails?” Assistant US Attorney Mark Lesko said, referring to the vibrating “puppy plug” sex toys ordered by a group higher-up as part of a kinky shopping spree. “Were they going to knit sweaters in the dungeon? Of course it was about sex. These women were not attracted to [Raniere]. Sylvie said she found him creepy,” Lesko went on, referring to a former slave who previously revealed the alleged sick inner workings of the group. “And what about the vagina shots are attractive?” Lesko said of photos taken of some women’s privates. “The attraction went one way — the defendant’s way. “Let’s cut to the chase. It’s 2015. [Raniere’s dying lover] for years had been procuring women for the defendant. So what did he do?” the prosecutor asked. Raniere created a formalized system to “serve up and continue to serve up a steady stream of sex partners for him,” Lesko said. The master-slave group within Nxivm, known as DOS, “was literally a pornography machine, pumping out photos and photos of nude women,” Lesko said. The prosecutor listed five locations discussed at trial as having been havens for the alleged twisted incidents. One included Raniere’s upstate “executive library,” where a hard drive was recovered containing alleged child pornography. “This is the place where the defendant stored Camilla’s childhood after he took it from her, where he stored her innocence,” Lesko said, referring to the hard drive and Raniere’s alleged then-15-year-old sex slave. “She wasn’t adultlike when he took those pictures of her with her legs spread. She was a child.”