How NXIVM, a so-called self-help company, crumbled after former members exposed it as a cult that abused sex slaves
Allison Mack leaves Federal court Tuesday, April 24, 2018, in the Brooklyn borough of New York. AP Photo/Frank Franklin II
NXIVM was formed by Keith Raniere and Nancy Salzman in the 1990s and billed itself as a self-help multi-level marketing company.
The company ceased operations last year after a New York Times exposé alleged that female members were used as sex slaves within the group.
The exposé prompted a federal investigation, and several members, including Raniere and “Smallville” actress Allison Mack, were charged with federal crimes.
Damon Brink Damon Brink believed he had found a path to spiritual fulfillment, self-awareness and financial success. Days into his initial training with a mysterious group outside of Albany, N.Y., he had become captivated by its teachings. I didn t really want to leave, Brink recalled. At the end of the day, I was exhausted but happy happy in a way I hadn t been in years or maybe decades. That happiness would not last. Twelve years later, the Morrisville resident has found himself trapped in the undertow of the group, known as NXIVM (pronounced NEX-ee-um) and widely described as a cult.