Actress and former member of NXIVM, Sarah Edmondson managed to escape the sadistic tendencies of her former master, Keith Raniere, who is now in prison. To celebrate his birthday, the NXIVM community (pronounced Nexium) organized a slightly gruesome ceremony. The twelve women who were chosen by Raniere to be sex slaves, were then branded with a hot iron.
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‘We had surgical masks on because the smell of burnt flesh was so strong. It was like something out of a horror movie,’ said the actress whose testimony was published on 14th October 2018.
The women were then ordered to say ‘Master, please brand me, it would be an honour.’
‘I wept the whole time […] [The woman on the table] was screaming like a pig, squealing like an animal being branded.’
The traumatising experience left her with a permanent mark which holds the initials KR, for Keith Raniere, who has since been tracked down and was finally put behind bars in March 2018 for sex trafficking.
An idea that came from an international star
But the initials within the brand were not just KR but also show the letters AM, for Allison Mack. Does this name ring a bell? She’s an actress, most well-known for her role in Smallville who then became Keith Raniere’s second in command and was used to spread propaganda for the group. Exceeding the status of disciple, she helped him to recruit his sex slaves and according to Sarah Edmondson, it had been her idea to brand the women. The actress was also arrested for accessory in May 2018.