In an interview apparently conductedbefore she was charged with sex trafficking, among other counts, formerSmallvillecostar Allison Macktold a reporter it was her ideato brand some female membersof the controversial self-help groupNxivm.
According to Mack’s quotes, published Thursday inaNew York Times Magazinearticle, she says she was the one who decided specific women within Nxivm — all part of a secretive subgroup known as “Dominus Obsequious Sororium” or DOS, according to prosecutors — should be marked with co-founder Keith Raniere’s initials, using a cauterizing pen.
TheTimesdescribes Mack, 35, as taking “full responsibility for coming up with” the brand.
“I was like: ‘Y’all, a tattoo? People get drunk and tattooed on their ankle “BFF,” or a tramp stamp,’ ” Mack is quoted as saying. “‘I have two tattoos and they mean nothing.’ ”
Instead, according to theTimes, Mack “wanted to do something more meaningful, something that took guts.”
The symbol each member was branded with appears to have included not just Raniere’s initials but also an “AM” — Mack’s initials.
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TheNYT Magazinearticle details at length the various beliefs and practices of the New York-based Nxivm, which markets itself on the basis of its empowerment practices, including helping members manage emotional trauma.
But federal prosecutors contend the group has a darker side largely built on coercion and manipulation with Raniere and Mack, his lieutenant, atop DOS, a sexual pyramid scheme of select women from the larger pool of Nxivm members.
One former devotee described Nxivmas a “cult,”and the group has been the subject of scrutiny from both law enforcement and journalists as itcame under fire fromDynastyactress Catherine Oxenberg, whose estranged daughter, India, joined in 2011.
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According to arguments prosecutors made in court documents, Mack allegedly demanded that the group’s slaves partake in “readiness” drills requiring them to respond to their masters at any time of night. Mack’s slaves were also allegedly “kept seriously sleep-deprived and emaciated to the point where they stopped menstruating.”
Prosecutors claim that during ceremonies in which her slaves were branded, Mack “placed her hands on the slaves’ chests and told them to ‘feel the pain’ and to ‘think of [their] master,’ as the slaves cried with pain.”
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Ranierewas arrested in Mexicoin March. Mackwas taken into custody the next month. Both face the same federal charges of sex trafficking, sex trafficking conspiracy and forced labor conspiracy and have pleaded not guilty.
Their attorneys have not responded to PEOPLE’s requests for comment. A representative for Mack previously declined comment.
While Raniere told theTimeshe had sexual relationships with two DOS members, his attorney, Marc Agnifilo, said earlier this month that “everything was utterly consensual — it was adults making decisions on their own of their own free will, and that’s what the trial is going to show.”
“A lot of adult, strong-minded, free-willed women made decisions for their own lives,” Agnifilo said.
In statements posted to Nxivm’s website, Raniere has said that all of the women involved in the DOS subgroup were consenting adults and that Nxivm was not involved in what he dubbed a “sorority.”
The group has not responded to numerous requests for comment from PEOPLE. In the fall, they denounced aNew York Timesarticle about them as “a criminal product of criminal minds.”
Mack and Raniere are scheduled to stand trial on Oct. 1.
source: people.com
