Raniere, a self-improvement guru whose organization NXIVM attracted millionaires and actresses among its adherents, faces sentencing Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2020, on convictions that he turned some female followers into sex slaves branded with his initials. The judge told a woman who Raniere ordered to be kept in a room for two years when she was 18: “What happened to you is not your fault." Prosecutors had sought life in prison, while a defense lawyer told the judge Raniere should face 20 years behind bars. The judge said Raniere groomed a 13-year-old girl so that “two years later he's having sex with a 15-year-old girl." Ex-followers told the judge that Bronfman for years had used her wealth to try to silence NXIVM defectors.

NEW YORK The leader of a cult-like self-improvement group in upstate New York who was convicted last year on charges that he turned some of his followers into sex slaves will face sentencing on Oct. 27, a judge said Friday. We need to figure out how to configure the courtroom to make sure everyone is safe in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, the judge said. At trial, prosecutors told jurors that the 59-year-old Ranieres organization, NXIVM pronounced NEHK-see-uhm operated like a cult that won him the devotion of a wealthy heiress and Hollywood actresses. Prosecutors said he formed a secret subgroup comprised of brainwashed female slaves who were branded with his initials and forced to have sex with him. Raniere is facing 15 years to life in prison.