Smallville Actress Allison Mack Arrested In Sex Trafficking Scheme, Faces 15 Years To Life If Convicted
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Allison Mack, who played Chloe Sullivan for 10 seasons on the Superman TV series Smallville, was arrested Friday in New York on charges of sex trafficking, sex trafficking conspiracy and forced labor conspiracy. She was indicted along with Keith Raniere, the alleged leader of a self-help program and purported pyramid scheme being investigated for operating a shadow society of female slaves.
Raniere and Mack each face mandatory minimum sentences of 15 years to life in prison if convicted.
According to prosecutors, Mack is credited in publicly available materials with co-creating a program called The Source, which recruited actors. Read details from DOJ about the case below, but be warned: Some of it is graphic.
As alleged in the 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, United States Attorney Richard P. Donoghue said today. The victims were then exploited, both sexually and for their labor, to the defendants benefit.
n 2015, court records show, Raniere created a secret society within his self-help company Nxivm called DOS, an acronym for a Latin phrase that loosely translates to Lord/Master of the Obedient Female Companions, according to the U.S. Attorneys Office. Investigators believe Mack and other DOS masters recruited slaves by telling them that they were joining a women-only organization that would empower them and eradicate purported weaknesses that the Nxivm curriculum taught were common in women.
The U.S. Attorneys Office for the Eastern District of New York announced the indictment today; Mack is scheduled to be arraigned this afternoon before U.S. Magistrate Judge Cheryl L. Pollak. Raniere previously was arrested on a complaint and ordered detained, the U.S. Attorneys Office said. He will be arraigned at a later date.
The investigation was led by the FBI, assisted by the New York State Police, the FBI Albany Field Office, the New York State Office of the Attorney General, the New York State Department of Health and the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Northern District of New York.
Smallville ran on the WB and then the CW from 2001-11 and starred Tom Welling as the young Clark Kent/Superman. Mack, who was a regular on the show for its entire 10-season, later appeared on FXs Wilfred and had a voice role on the Amazon animated series Lost in Oz.
Here are details of the case from the Justice Department press release:
According to court filings, during the past 20 years, Raniere established a series of purported self-help programs within his umbrella organization Nxivm (pronounced NEX-i-um). Nxivm is based in Albany, New York and has operated centers in the United States, Mexico, Canada and South America. Nxivm maintains features of a pyramid scheme, as its courses cost thousands of dollars each and participants (Nxians) are encouraged to pay for additional classes and to recruit others to take classes in order to rise within the ranks of Nxivm. A number of Nxians were residents of the Eastern District of New York when they were recruited, and Nxivm has held promotional recruiting events in Brooklyn. Mack is credited in publicly available materials with co-creating a Nxivm program, called The Source, which recruited actors.
As detailed in court filings, in 2015, Raniere created a secret society within Nxivm called DOS, an acronym that stands for a Latin phrase that loosely translates to Lord/Master of the Obedient Female Companions, or The Vow. DOS operated with levels of women slaves headed by masters. Slaves were expected to recruit slaves of their own (thus becoming masters themselves), who in turn owed service not only to their own masters but also to masters above them in the DOS pyramid. Raniere stood alone at the top of the pyramid. Other than Raniere, all members of DOS were women. Mack is one of the women in the first level of the pyramid immediately below Raniere.
Mack and other DOS masters recruited DOS slaves by telling them that they were joining a women-only organization that would empower them and eradicate purported weaknesses that the Nxivm curriculum taught were common in women. Mack and other DOS masters concealed Ranieres status at the top of the pyramid from new recruits.
As a pre-condition to joining DOS, women were required to provide collateral, which included highly damaging information about friends and family members, nude photographs and/or rights to the recruits assets. DOS slaves were told that their collateral could be released for any number of reasons, including telling anyone about DOSs existence or leaving DOS. Many DOS slaves were branded on their pelvic areas using a cauterizing pen with a symbol which, unbeknownst to them, incorporated Ranieres initials. During the branding ceremonies, slaves were required to be fully naked, and a master would order one slave to film the branding while the others restrained the slave being branded.
According to court filings, Mack directly or implicitly required her slaves, including Jane Does 1 and 2, as identified in the Indictment, to engage in sexual activity with Raniere. In exchange for this, Mack received financial and other benefits from Raniere. Jane Doe 1 and Jane Doe 2 believed that if they did not participate in those activities with Raniere, their collateral would be released.
