Actress Allison Mack Arrested For Connection To Upstate Sex Cult

BROOKLYN, NY — "Smallville" actress Allison Mack was arrested Friday and accused of playing a part in an upstate sex cult run by Keith Raniere which branded women and forced them to participate in sex acts, federal prosecutors announced.

Mack and Raniere were charged with sex trafficking, sex trafficking conspiracy and forced labor conspiracy for recruiting women to a self-help group that was instead a sex cult run by Raniere.

"As alleged in this indictment, 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," U.S. Attorney Richard Donoghue said in a statement. "The victims were then exploited, both sexually and for their labor, to the defendants' benefit."

Over the past 20 years, Raniere ran a purported self-help group, called Nxivm, out of Albany and held promotional events in Brooklyn, federal prosecutors said. Mack helped create a program for the cult, called "The Source," which recruited actresses.

However, Raniere had a secret society inside Nxivm dubbed "DOS" that operated similar to a pyramid scheme requiring female slaves to recruit others and become masters, prosecutors said. Mack was on the level below Raniere in the cult.

Women who joined DOS turned over damaging information to the "masters" — including nude photos — which the "masters" later threatened to release if they told anybody about the group.

Mack, 35, allegedly forced women into sex acts with Raniere, threatening to release the collateral if they didn't comply, in exchange for financial benefits from Raniere, authorities said. The pair also forced women to get the group's symbol branded on their pelvic area with a cauterizing pen during a ceremony that would be filmed.

Women in the cult were also forced to endure sleep deprivation, starvation diets and ice-cold showers, the New York Post previously reported.

Raniere, 57, was arrested on March 25 in Mexico then extradited to the United States for prosecution, the New York Daily News reported.

Mack was indicted Friday in Brooklyn Federal Court and pleaded not guilty to the charges. She was ordered detained by the judge, prosecutors said. A date for Raniere's indictment has not been set yet.

Mack and Raniere face 15-years to life in prison if convicted, prosecutors said.

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