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MelissaB

(16,420 posts)
Fri Apr 19, 2019, 10:43 PM Apr 2019

(Seagram's liquor) Heiress pleads guilty in cult group sex slave case

Heiress pleads guilty in cult group sex slave case

NEW YORK (AP) - An heiress pleaded guilty on Friday in a sensational case accusing a cult-like upstate New York group of creating a secret harem of sex slaves for the group's self-anointed spiritual leader.

Clare Bronfman admitted in her plea in federal court in Brooklyn that she harbored someone who was living in the U.S. illegally for unpaid "labor and services" and that she committed credit card fraud on behalf of Keith Raniere, the leader of a group called NXIVM.

Bronfman - the 40-year-old daughter of the late billionaire philanthropist and former Seagram chairman Edgar Bronfman Sr. - told the judge that she had wanted to help people through NXIVM but ended up dishonoring her family.

"Your honor, I was afforded a great gift by my grandfather and father," Bronfman said. "With the gift, comes immense privilege and more importantly, tremendous responsibility. It does not come with an ability to break the law."

More: https://www.wkyt.com/content/news/Heiress-pleads-guilty-in-cult-group-sex-slave-case-508827801.html
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(Seagram's liquor) Heiress pleads guilty in cult group sex slave case (Original Post) MelissaB Apr 2019 OP
A bit more: MelissaB Apr 2019 #1
Perhaps this is the sex slave cult Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick was alluding to when he decided to asiliveandbreathe Apr 2019 #2

MelissaB

(16,420 posts)
1. A bit more:
Fri Apr 19, 2019, 10:45 PM
Apr 2019
The plea means Bronfman will avoid going to trial early next month with Raniere, who's facing conspiracy charges alleging that his inner circle of loyalists created a secret society of women who were forced to have unwanted sex with him. Prosecutors say some of the women were branded with his initials as part of their initiation.

Three other co-defendants, including TV actress Allison Mack, have also pleaded guilty. Mack is best known for her role as a young Superman's close friend on the series "Smallville."

Bronfman had long been affiliated with NXIVM, giving away tens of millions of dollars of her fortune to bankroll Raniere and his program of intense self-improvement classes. She also paid for lawyers to defend the group against a lawsuit brought by its critics.
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