The cult where women were allegedly brainwashed into becoming sex slaves has closed down.
A message on the NXIVM website, a ‘self help’ group whose founder has been jailed on charges of sex trafficking, said it is with ‘deep sadness’ the organization will be suspending all ‘enrollment, curriculum and events until further notice’.
Despite the serious allegations concerning founder Keith Raniere and senior member Allison Mack, the message says NXIVM is hoping to reopen in the future.
‘While we are disappointed by the interruption of our operations, we believe it is warranted by the extraordinary circumstances facing the company at this time,’ the statement reads.
‘We continue to believe in the value and importance of our work and look forward to resuming our efforts when these allegations are resolved.’
Keith Raniere (pictured) was denied bail on Tuesday after being arrested in March on charges of sex trafficking
A message on the alleged cult’s website said the organization ‘looked forward’ to resuming operations at a later date
Allison Mack, who is best known for her starring role on 2000’s drama Smallville, is facing charges of sex-trafficking after allegedly grooming women who thought they had signed up to a female empowerment group to submit to Raniere as sex slaves.
She was first charged in April, and has been out on $5million bail since. It is also alleged she branded women with Raniere’s initials as part of their initiation.
Mack was in a Brooklyn court on Tuesday as leader Raniere – who was arrested in March and charged with sex trafficking, sex trafficking conspiracy, and forced labor – applied for bail and was refused.
Attorneys for Mack and Raniere, Mark Agnifilo and Paul DerOhannesian, had asked for Raniere to be released on $10million bail and be placed under house arrest with a security detail out the front, The New York Post reported.
Raniere is accused of leading a sex cult in the US, and Smallville star Allison Mack (pictured) is accused of being his second in charge
Mack, who was released on a $5million bail in April, is under house arrest in California, but appeared in court alongside Raniere in Brooklyn on Tuesday
Mack looked worried as she exited the court with her attorneys, though it is reported Raniere was calm through the process
Brooklyn federal court Judge Nicholas Garaufis denied the application. He said Raniere was still a flight risk and the idea of moving the 57-year-old to what would essentially be a private jail was insulting to inmates imprisoned on lesser charges.
‘What the court may be sanctioning is a private jail with all the accouterments of a mansion,’ Garaufis said.
‘It sort of makes a mockery of the system of justice when other people can’t pull together $100 to get out of Rikers … I don’t know that I want to be contributing to that.’
Allison Mack returned to California after the hearing to continue her house arrest.
Actress Catherine Oxenburg, who is also the mother of 26-year-old India Oxenburg, a member of NXIVM, was seen speaking with reporters out the front of the court house.
Former television actress Catherine Oxenburg (pictured) spoke to reporters outside the courthouse about her daughter, India, who was a member of the alleged cult
Oxenburg said India, 26, was ‘not in her right mind’ as a result of her time in the cult
Pictured: Attorneys for Mack and Raniere, Mark Agnifilo (left) and Paul DerOhannesian (right). They have denied the charges leveled against their clients
The former Dynasty actress said she was happy to see Raniere denied bail, but said she held concerns for her daughter, who was still deeply entrenched in the cult.
‘I love my daughter with all my heart, but my daughter is not in her right mind, and that is what this NXIVM cult and Raniere has done to her,’ she said.
Oxenburg said she was ‘very relieved’ to see Raniere behind bars, but wanted to see Mack pay for her alleged role.
‘Allison Mack was my daughters direct superior in NXIVM. So she deserves to be held accountable for what she’s done,’ she said.
Oxenburg also alleged another woman would be named as a co-conspirator in the next four to six weeks.
Both Raniere and Mack have denied the charges.
Oxenburg appeared with Toni Natalie (right), a former partner of Raniere’s