Smallville star Allison Mack has been arrested in connection with the case involving alleged cult leader Keith Raniere and NXIVM.
Law enforcement officials told NBC New York that Mack was taken into custody, although no further details are yet available. New York’s New Channel 13 says that Mack will appear in court in Brooklyn later today.
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Mack is reportedly Raniere’s second-in-command and was caught on video objecting to his arrest in Mexico last month. Raniere is reporteldy facing steep sentences if convicted of human trafficking. For months now there have been persistent rumors that NXIVM, ostensibly a self-improvement group, is acting as a front for a “sex cult” where women are branded as slaves for high-ranking members of the organization.
Following Raniere’s arrest, Mack’s longtime co-star Kristin Kreuk felt compelled to issue a statement clarifying that she had nothing to do with the organization, despite rumors to the contrary.
“When I was about 23, I took an Executive Success Programs/NXIVM ‘intensive,’ what I understood to be a self-help/personal growth course that helped me handle my previous shyness, which is why I continued with the program,” Kreuk said on Twitter. “I left about five years ago and had minimal contact with those who were still involved. The accusations that I was in the ‘inner circle’ or recruited women as ‘sex slaves’ are blatantly false. During my time, I never experienced any illegal or nefarious activity. I am horrified and disgusted by what has come out about DOS. Thank you to all of the brave women who have come forward to share their stories and expose DOS; I can’t imagine how difficult this has been for you. I am deeply disturbed and embarrassed to have been associated with NXIVM. I hope that the investigation leads to justice for all of those affected.”
NXIVM identifies itself as a self-help group — “a multi-level marketing organization that offers personal and professional development seminars” — but has been accused of sapping the resources of its members, holding people against their will, and branding malnourished women as part of a non-consensual domination/submission culture. The cult is called DOS, believed to be short for “dominus obsequious sororium,” which is Latin for the “master over the slave women,” according to a former publicist and several women who have come forward after getting out of it. Amid reports that Mack might be arrested soon, Kreuk was named as the one who recruited Mack into the group years ago, before leaving herself.
Rumors of NXIVM running a “sex cult” first surfaced in November of last year, with Mack as the news hook for numerous entertainment outlets.
“The allegations relayed in the story are built upon sources, some of which are under criminal investigation or already indicted, who act as a coordinated group,” NXIVM said in a statement. “We will explore any and all legal remedies to correct these lies.”
Mack herself has had no public statement since allegations of her involvement in criminal activity first came to light. Earlier this week, reports suggested that she had returned to Brooklyn to marshal a defense for herself and Raniere.
More on this as it develops.
