Allison Mack, who played Chloe Sullivan in Smallville, was arrested and appeared in court on Friday for charges of aiding a sex trafficking operation disguised as a mentoring group. Keith Raniere was the leader of the Nxivm group and Mack was second in command.
The Smallville actress has pleaded not guilty for aiding in sex trafficking and forced labor which has a minimum jail time of fifteen years. Nxivm victims were forced to starve and were held down while Raniere’s initials were branded below their hips. Mack is alleged to have put her hands on the women’s chests while telling them to “feel the pain” and to “think of master”.
Richard Donoghue, US attorney for the Eastern District in New York, said in a statement that: “Allison Mack recruited women to join what was purported to be a female mentorship group that was, in fact, created and led by Keith Raniere,”
“Mack directly or implicitly required her slaves… to engage in sexual activity with Raniere,” the statement from the attorney’s office claims.
“In exchange for this, Mack received financial and other benefits.”
Mack, 35, is also claimed to have forced victims to pose naked for photos that were given to Raniere, 57. On one occasion, the photos were close-up pictures of their vaginas according to one report. Raniere was arrested in Mexico in March and he also pleaded not guilty on charges of sex trafficking, sex trafficking conspiracy and forced labor conspiracy. He is being held in New York.
Assistant US attorney, Moira Penza, told the court that:
“Ms Mack was one of the top members of a highly organized scheme which was designed to provide sex to [Raniere], under the guise of female empowerment, she starved women until they fit her co-defendant’s sexual feminine ideal.”
The judge has ordered Mack to be held in custody where she will appear in court again on Monday.
