I was burned with initials of NXIVM sex cult monster who wanted to find ‘small, young virgins’ on Tinder

https://ift.tt/2OidkjO Lying blindfolded and naked on a table, Sarah Edmondson braced herself, as she waited for the scorching hot iron to strike, searing her leader’s initials into the skin just above her crotch. “Master, would you brand me? It would be an honour,” she whispered. 13 Actress Sarah shows a brand she received during her time in the Nxivm sex cultCredit: New York Times Having given birth previously, she thought she could handle the pain. But nothing could have ever prepared her for “the feel of the fire" on her skin and she screeched in pain. As the Canadian actress exclusively tells The Sun, she felt she had little choice but to comply. She was a member of an American sex cult called Nxivm, and its leader Keith Raniere had chosen her to be his property. Threatened with intimate videotapes If she refused, she was told the cult would release its “collateral” – nude photos and videotapes of her saying damaging things about family members. For Sarah, now 42, this horrifying ritual was a wake-up call. By permanently searing his initials into her skin, Raniere was marking out Sarah as his personal property. She tells The Sun: “How can the branding be anything but to say 'she is mine'? He wanted to own me.” 13 Sarah is pictured in 2009 - the same year she set up an Nxivm chapter in CanadaCredit: Getty - Contributor 13 Leader Keith Raniere, pictured, marked out Sarah as his personal property Two years later, Sarah has written a memoir, Scarred, which tells the harrowing story of her 12 years in Nxivm and how she bravely broke free from its spell and exposed its perverted leader, helping to bring him to justice. It reveals how over nearly two decades twisted Raniere built a sex cult pyramid scheme so powerful that followers gave him millions of pounds. Sex slaves forced to beat each other At the heart of the cult lay a secret society called DOS, from which a harem of women serviced his every sexual whim. If women didn’t do as he asked, he punished them by putting them in a cage, and made them hit each other with leather straps. One Mexican devotee was locked up for two years. Now, thanks to Sarah, 59-year-old Raniere faces spending the rest of his life behind bars. This summer he was found guilty of racketeering, sex trafficking, forced labour conspiracy and wire fraud conspiracy. 13 Sarah, pictured in a recent Instagram snap, bravely exposed the cult's perverted leaderCredit: Instagram 13 The initials of Raniere and US actress Allison Mack - who recruited women into the cult - were seared onto members' skin From a loving family to cult member Sarah, whose dad is British, isn’t your stereotypical cult follower. Even though her parents divorced when she was little, she says she grew up in a warm, loving and supportive family environment. And when she first heard about Nxivm, she wasn’t a hippy or searching for a higher meaning to life. But after appearing in sci-fi series such as Stargate SG-1, her acting career was beginning to stall. A film maker, Mark Vicente, introduced her to Nxivm, which already had several Hollywood members, and she hoped that by joining she would win better roles. 13 Sarah grew up in a warm, loving and supportive family environmentCredit: Getty - Contributor 13 An artist's sketch of Raniere appearing at court in June this yearCredit: Reuters £14k-a-month recruiter Initially she was unimpressed by the cult’s cod psychology of “personal growth” - especially after paying nearly a thousand pounds to sit through at a five-day seminar at a Holiday Inn Express. She admits she felt silly wearing coloured sashes, which indicated a follower’s level, and having to pay “tribute” to Raniere who insisted upon being called ‘Vanguard’. But she claims the organisation’s message of “pushing on through” when faced with difficulties did help her to secure better acting jobs. As a result, she became a zealous believer, recruiting more people to Nxivm than anyone else. In July 2009, she set up a chapter in Canada where she earned nearly £14,000 a month training newcomers. 13 She is seen attending an event during the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival in CanadaCredit: Getty - Contributor Rumours of mystery disappearances Through the organisation she met her husband Anthony Ames, a fellow actor, and became best friends with Lauren Salzman. It was Salzman who calmed her fears when rumours spread about senior devotees going missing or getting ill. And it was Salzman who was secretly tasked with leading Sarah deeper into Raniere’s dangerous inner circle, known as DOS. Raniere would carefully groom his sex slaves, first knocking their confidence, then suggesting they’d be better off single and finally offering to “mentor” them. They were expected to go on tortuous diets, because he liked his women to be skinny, and to record their deepest, darkest secrets on video. 13 Raniere - who is waiting to be sentenced for his crimes - carefully groomed his sex slavesCredit: KEITH RANIERE CONVERSATIONS/ YOUTUBE In March 2017, Salzman insisted that Sarah tape her own intimate confessions before taking part in the secret branding ceremony, alongside four other women. The horrifying initiation was performed at the cult’s New York headquarters. Afterwards, Sarah was instructed to draw up a legal document handing over the rights to the home she shared with Anthony and their son. 'He wanted to break up my marriage' Although she had resisted Raniere’s attempts to bed her, she began to suspect that he wanted to break up her marriage so that he could “own her”. 13 Sarah was brutally branded alongside other womenCredit: New York Times 13 She would later go to the FBI and help to bring Raniere to justiceCredit: New York Times But Sarah had no intention of betraying her family in that way. With the scales finally falling from her eyes, she reached out to fellow member Mark Vicente, because she knew he was also having doubts about the cult. Mark informed her that women were told that if they didn’t have sex with Raniere the confession tapes would be used against them. Sick request to 'find other virgins' on Tinder Together, they went to the FBI and helped to bring Nxivm down. And as law enforcement uncovered more dirty details, Sarah learned the depths of depravity that she’d been blind to. During Raniere’s trial it was claimed the leader had more than 100 “slaves”, including one as young as 15. In messages shared with one slave he requested the follower “find other virgins” on Tinder “shorter than me, younger is fine.” Sarah didn’t even know that Salzman was one of Raniere’s lovers. Nxivm: A history of the sex cult NXIVM was founded by Keith Raniere and Nancy Salzman in 1998. It described itself as a ‘multi-level marketing company’ - a pyramid-type scheme - and offered personal and professional development courses, each costing thousands of dollars.Its tagline was ‘working to build a better world” and it said it sought to empower people and make them have more joy in their lives.Based in Albany, New York, it operated centres across the US, Canada and Mexico and in Central America, and claimed to have worked with more than 16,000 people.But leader Keith Raniere used Nxivm as a way of recruiting women into his secret inner group, known as DOS, forcing them to become his sex slaves and to sign over their lives to him. In court it was revealed he encouraged Salzman to have sex with other female cult members, but forbade her from sleeping with any men. This March, Salzman admitted racketeering and threatening to deport an imprisoned woman back to Mexico if she didn’t work for Raniere. Her mother Nancy Salzman pleaded guilty to a racketeering conspiracy, Smallville actress Allison Mack pleaded guilty to racketeering and Seagram whisky heiress Clare Bronfman pleaded guilty to charges of harbouring an alien and identity fraud. 13 Smallville actress Mack, centre, pleaded guilty to racketeeringCredit: AP:Associated Press 'There's still much more' Lauren Salzman, Nancy Salzman, Mack, Bronfman and Raniere are waiting to be sentenced for their crimes. Sarah believes that other terrible acts performed in the name of the cult have not yet come to light. She says: “When we decided to blow the whistle we knew what we were exposing was not even ten percent of what came out in the trial. There is still much more.” After quitting Nxivm, Sarah feared for her safety and put extra locks on her door. She says: “I was suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.” 13 Sarah is pictured publicising her memoir, ScarredCredit: Instagram MORE FOR YOU RICHARD-SPENCER-BLASTS-PRESIDENT-DONALD-TRUMP-OVER-EDDIE-GALLAGHER FIRING LINE Navy Secretary is fired after clashing with Trump over SEAL Eddie Gallagher AMAS-2019-TAYLOR-SWIFT-RECORD-AMERICAN-MUSIC-AWARDS SWIFT JUSTICE Taylor makes epic dig at ex-label amid feud as she beats Jacko's AMAs record DAYCARE-SHUT-DOWN-AFTER-BABY-DISCOVERED-INJURED BABY BATTERED Daycare shut down after baby girl found 'covered in bruises and bite marks' DYSON-FANS-REMOVED-HOSPITALS MONEY BLOWN NHS chiefs remove £1.2m worth of Dyson fans from hospitals over infection fears CRUISE-NORWEGIAN-JOY-NOROVIRUS-OUTBREAK MASS OUTBREAK Hundreds rushed off cruise as passengers hospitalised in 'norovirus outbreak' HARRY-MORTON-DEAD-LINDSAY-LOHAN-PINK-TACO ‘BEST FRIENDS' Lindsay Lohan pays tribute to her restaurant owner ex after he is found dead MALIN-ANDERSSON-VISITS-GANGSTER-PRISON LAG ISLAND Love Island's Malin Andersson visiting notorious drugs gangster in prison NADINE-COYLE-CHERYL-GIRLS-ALOUD-FEUD GIRLS AFEUD Why did Nadine Coyle and Cheryl fall out? 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She warns: “There are a a lot of groups all over the world but particularly in North America, thousands and thousands of groups like this.” Scarred by Sarah Edmondson with Kristine Gasbarre (Chronicle Books) is available now Play Video Inside Nxivm ‘sex cult leader’ Keith Raniere’s lair where he ‘romped with two sex slaves’ Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) 3 Comments TOPICS News Features Comments are subject to our community guidelines, which can be viewed here.