01x04 - Exposed

[bunniefuu]

[uneasy music]

[Raniere]
You physically could r*pe.

Really, the issue is, why won't
you let yourself go there?

[India] Keith started
what he referred to as working on me,

which was him performing oral sex.

It was repeated ongoing sexual violation.

[Raniere]
Next Saturday

we will start doing enslavement exercises

amongst people.

So no more questions?

[uneasy music]

I was in a master/sl*ve
secret society of women,

which was called DOS.

Allison Mack was my master,
and I was her sl*ve.

-[laughing]
-[Raniere] Did you notice

one of the women wasn't wearing panties?

[India]
Keith said he was my grandmaster.

You know, in some cultures,
people fought to die.

I felt like I will die for Keith.

Allison told me if I really wanted
to commit to DOS,

I would need to move to Albany.

[Catherine]
She let go of all her furniture.

She let go of her apartment.

It was literally like

she was leaving the planet.

I noticed many

of the women in Albany

were losing weight like crazy.

[India] Allison told me
we were going to be branded,

and then she said that
it was time to brand my sl*ves.

♪ ♪

[India]
How do I get this off?

[man]
We can give you some options.

Sometimes there are none.

I mean, over my 40 years
as a plastic surgeon,

I haven't seen this type of brand.

If you could sit up for me a little bit.

I can't imagine what you've been through,

so I'd be delighted to help you

get past this deformity
that was inflicted on you.

Will this pigment or the scar
ever go away, or will it--

-Will I--
-[Sherman] No, I-it's almost--

-It's two years now, you said?
-Yeah.

This is- this is
what you see is what you're gonna have.

[heavy music]

♪ ♪

[Sherman]
Well, I'm glad you had the courage

to come in here. Having examined you,

let me tell you what I would recommend.

-[India] Okay.
-Just a quick question.

-Yeah.
-How was this done?

The procedure itself
was done without anesthesia.

-No anesthesia?
-No.

It was done with a cauterizing pen
by a doctor.

-But in a--
-A physician?

-A physician, yes.
-Wow.

I was told that it would fade over time,
but I guess that's not the case.

[Sherman] Well, it has faded,
but it's depigmented.

There's no remedy for depigmentation

except some type of excision,

which is the surgical way of doing it.

So, in other words, we'll take out
the area that was traumatized

so all you have is a surgical scar.

We can do it in stages.

[India] What's the recovery time
for something like that?

Like, if I was gonna do it in stages,
what would I be looking at?

[Sherman] Well, first, we would take out
a piece of it and close it.

Then you come back in another six months,
and you do it again.

And another six months,
and you do it again.

So this would take, like, a year?

-Well, that depends upon how you heal.
-Wow, I didn't know that.

There's no simple way
of getting around this,

with this type of brand
that is so large that it would be,

you know, done in stages.

♪ ♪

Ugh.

[Catherine]
In April of 2017,

I received a phone call
that changed everything.

It was from Bonnie, Mark Vicente's wife,

who had left NXIVM.

She said, "You have to save India."

And I was taken aback.

I didn't know what she was talking about.

I said, "Well, I've always assumed
that India would wake up on her own

and leave of her own volition,"

And she said, "No, you don't understand.

She's not gonna leave
unless you intervene."

And then she proceeded to unload
everything about DOS.

And it was an absolute horror story.

She said that DOS was based
on a master/sl*ve arrangement,

that India was a sl*ve,
but she was also a master.

She told me that they were sleep-deprived,
they were doing penances,

and that they were starving the girls.

She told me that some of the women
in the group were branded,

and they think
that India's been branded, too.

They were being branded not
with some Latin symbol of the elements,

which is what they were told,

but actually
with Keith Raniere's initials.

And she said, "You know, I think

"that India's being recruited
to have sex with Keith.

I think they're all having sex
with Keith."

♪ ♪

I was terrified.

This is nothing I could possibly imagine

my child being involved in.

I was the one who introduced her to NXIVM,

and I was determined to get her out.

[voice breaking]
And I was desperate.

I was absolutely desperate.

[India]
In April of 2017,

I was about to turn 26,

and I had been in NXIVM for six years

and in DOS for a year and a half,

Allison announced
that the third line of DOS sl*ves

was gonna be branded,

and the ceremony was gonna be held

in Albany in June,

and it was going to include my sl*ves.

The brand still represented
something positive to me,

but I didn't want to impose it
on anybody else.

But Allison was pushing me very hard.

My sl*ves were living in Los Angeles,

and I flew out there
not knowing how I was gonna handle it.

My mom thought I was just coming out
for my birthday.

My strategy was to get India
to come to Los Angeles

under the guise
of celebrating her birthday,

get her alone,

and somehow convince her to leave NXIVM.

But I'd never done anything duplicitous
with my daughter,

and it just felt awful.

[India]
When I was back home in LA,

my hair was still falling out.

My family started to make comments
about my weight at that point, too,

because they noticed
that I was getting thinner and thinner.

I mentioned to my mom that I hadn't had
my period in over a year.

[Catherine]
Now, I know information

that she doesn't know that I know,

and so I immediately made
an appointment with the OBGYN.

And I was just, like, praying
that she would let me take her.

We got in the car,

and we were driving down PCH, and I said,

"Are you branded?"

[India]
I didn't know how to react.

I just kind of told her, yeah, I have.

I was branded

and that it was
a positive experience for me.

I said, "Do you even know
what you're branded with?"

[heavy music]

[India] I told her that it was
a symbol of the elements.

[Catherine]
I said, "No, it's not.

It's Keith Raniere's initials.
You're branded with his initials."

I was like, "No, they're not."

And then I totally blew it.

I mean, everything I did, I blew it.

I was warned, like, don't say
the brainwashing word

and don't mention anything
to do with cults.

But I couldn't help myself.

I immediately said,
"I know you're brainwashed,

and you're in a cult."

[India]
It turned really bad really fast.

I remember her being very emotional,

telling me, "You're in danger.

"You should not go back there.

These people are not your friends."

And I didn't believe her.

[Catherine] I told her that if she
had given damaging collateral about me,

I didn't want that to be the reason
that she didn't feel she could leave.

[India]
When she mentioned the collateral,

I felt really afraid.

[Catherine] The conversation in the car
didn't go well,

and I dropped her
at the doctor's office.

♪ ♪

[India]
The doctor started to ask me

all these specific questions
about my life in Albany,

which I thought were really strange.

Like, she was a gynecologist.
She wasn't a therapist.

She then told me,
"Please don't go back to Albany,"

and I started to feel afraid.

All of a sudden, she moved
my hand out of the way

and exposed my brand,

and I thought, "What the f*ck?"

[Catherine] When I picked India up
from the appointment,

she was so angry.

[India]
I said, "What the f*ck?

Did you tell the doctor
these things about me?"

I just felt like I was being set up,
and it was really scary.

I had told the OBGYN about my fear

that India was sleep-deprived,
calorie-deprived,

and that she may have been branded.

I was hoping that the doctor
would be able to get through to her

and warn her that she was compromising
her health and her well-being.

I was--every--

[sighs] Everything was sort of
a desperate measure

to get her out.

But, my God, this group had a--

you know, had a hold on her.

She said, "Just drop me off
at the corner."

[car door closes]

And I really did think
that I'd lost her at that point.

[India] I went back to Albany,
and that was the beginning

of my mother and I not speaking.

[Lalich]
Cult interventions are very difficult.

The person usually digs in much deeper.

For India, it essentially reinforced
what the cult had told her,

you know, that her mom was against her
being on this ethical path with NXIVM.

And so that just made her click
into her loyalty to the cult.

[Bernstein]
Predatory alienation

is very prevalent in cults.

People are made to feel suspicious

of people outside of the group

and are made to feel like

it would be best for them
and safest for them

to distance themselves from people outside

who are ultimately a threat

to the overall control of the leader.

[Catherine] I was convinced that
I would be able to get through to India.

It never even occurred to me
that I would have no impact whatsoever.

I tried to explain to her dads

that I thought India
was in serious danger,

and they thought I was overreacting,

that I was alarmist.

[India] I had convinced both of my dads
that I was fine.

They didn't like Keith,
but they supported me,

and that drove a wedge
in my family, for sure.

I was left to fight this battle

on my own.

And I must have called


everybody from ex-Navy SEALs

to detectives to judges, lawyers,

New York State Police,
and local Albany FBI agents.

They said, "Well, is she over 18?

"Well, then she's considered
a consenting adult,

and there's nothing we can do."

I did tell them that the fact
that she had given damning collateral

had removed her consent,

but it fell on deaf ears.

In the United States,

there really are very few laws

to do with coercive control.

There are more laws in Europe.

I was convinced
that my daughter was a victim,

but I also realized
that if she might be responsible

for branding somebody,

would that be the line crossed

that would then take her out
of being seen as a victim?

So I was so afraid that they would get her
to do something

that would cross that line

and that she could risk prosecution.

[India]
At the time, I had no idea

they were implicating me in crimes,

but I didn't question
what I was told to do.

When Allison Mack and Nicki Clyne
got married in 2017,

they made me be the witness
at their City Hall wedding ceremony,

and they also wrote a document
that I had to sign,

saying that they were in love
and that the wedding was real.

I didn't realize at the time
what I had done was a federal crime.

They were not in love, and this was
just because Nicki was Canadian

and she needed the marriage
in order to stay in the country.

This whole thing
was orchestrated by Keith.

I pour on the fuel, I light the match,
but I have no way--

Don't know how it's gonna burn,
don't know how hot it's gonna burn.

And I help it along as it goes.

A gardener or a fire maker,
you know, one of those.

Just keep it hot.

-[man] Keep it hot.
-Yeah.

[India] Mark Vicente left NXIVM
in May 2017.

He said that he wanted
to pursue a film career

and that moving to LA
would benefit both him

and his wife, Bonnie.

[Debora]
I told Mark Vicente

that I got approached for DOS.

He also heard about it from
a couple of other members,

and he left NXIVM
pretty quickly after that.

We were about to get married just before
we started Jness Tracks, and...

[Jill]
Mark Vicente resigned,

and then Sarah Edmondson
and her husband, Nippy,

very publicly resigned.

Nippy was a bit of a hothead.

He confronted Lauren Salzman

about his wife being branded
and was very loud about it,

and everyone that was present
heard the whole thing.

The definition of personal growth
isn't getting f*cking branded.

This is criminal sh*t!

Branding my f*cking wife!

[Jill]
It was not normal

for especially people that senior
to just up and resign.

And I was like, "What's going on?

Is this about DOS?"

I just, you know,
had a sneaking suspicion.

I just remember thinking this whole thing

was bound to blow up,
and, f*ck, it's happening now.

[Catherine]
Once I had gotten no traction

with Albany law enforcement
and FBI agents,

I started working with people

who had defected from NXIVM and DOS,

and we reached out
to one of NXIVM's archenemies,

somebody called Frank Parlato
of the Frank Report.

[Ross]
Frank Parlato was originally

Keith Raniere's PR guy,

but, ultimately, NXIVM turned on him.

They claimed that he took money,
and there were criminal charges.

So Frank Parlato decided
that he would go against NXIVM.

[Catherine]
When we reached out to Frank

and we told him about the branding,

he started posting on his website.

[Kelly]
I got a call from someone who said,

"Have you read the Frank Report?"

And I said, "I don't know
what you're talking about."

So she sent me a link, and she said,

"Don't let anyone know
that I'm sending you this link."

And I started reading
about collateral.

And I thought, "Collateral?

"Oh, my God, is this
what they were asking me to come into?"

[Naomi]
When I started reading the Frank Report

and seeing things
for what they truly were,

it just made me feel ill.

[India] Even within NXIVM,
no members outside of DOS

were supposed to know that it existed.

As soon as the posts started coming up,

there was a ton of questions
and a lot of chatter.

My sl*ves left immediately after that,

and none of them had to complete
the seduction assignment or be branded.

That was a huge relief.

[Catherine]
A lot of DOS sl*ves started to defect,

and I couldn't understand
why India wasn't leaving.

And then it occurred to me,
these other women

had not been indoctrinated
for as many years as India.

They weren't under the influence
the way India was.

[India] 2017, that was
my sixth V-Week in a row.

It was significantly smaller.

There were maybe 150 people.

We were told not to believe

what was being posted online

and that the people that left were weak

and the people that stayed
were, like, the true believers.

It was a test for us to show

how much we cared about NXIVM

and how much we believed in Keith.

It's really hard

to be around me for long periods of time.

You're liable to end up
into all sorts of...

I just, you know, my best friend
on one side is trouble,

and my best friend
on my other side's chaos.

[Lalich] Scandal may cause
some people to leave,

but it also seems to have the effect

of making some people
even more true believers

and more deeply entrenched.

[Ross]
When Catherine Oxenberg called me,

she was in a lot of pain.

She would go to politicians,
to law enforcement,

to the people in power and say,

"This man is an outrage.

And why aren't you doing
anything about it?"

[Catherine]
Rick told me that it is the small cults

that are the most dangerous
and the most vulnerable

to ending in suicide

because they are the most tightly wound
around their leader.

And I was like, "Oh, my God.

"Please tell me that this
is not where this is headed,

"that we can intervene
before there is something

as horrific as losing my child."

[unsettling music]

[Ross] Why did the people
at Jonestown not run away?

They took the cyanide knowing
that it would k*ll them

because they were obedient to Jim Jones.

They were isolated.

Their other voices
that could have helped them

had been shut out.

That's why Catherine Oxenberg

endeavored so hard

to penetrate that bubble
that Keith Raniere created

and that Clare Bronfman herself reinforced

and that Allison Mack supervised.

She wanted to penetrate
through that bubble

and communicate with her daughter

and say,
"Something is really terribly wrong."

That was the moment in sheer frustration
that I made the decision...

albeit the most agonizing decision
any parent can make,

which was to go public

so that perhaps law enforcement
would step in.

[Meier]
If it had been just a story

about some cult
that was ripping off people for money,

it wouldn't have been of interest.

But when you got to the branding,

it sort of tipped over
into a whole nother dimension.

[Catherine]
After I talked to Barry Meier,

I literally spent two months
biting my nails,

waiting for their story to be published.

And then the Harvey Weinstein story broke.

And then it was a domino effect,
because the MeToo movement went viral.

And on the heels of the MeToo movement,

suddenly the NXIVM story became relevant
and front-page news.

And there's a picture of Sarah Edmondson
showing her brand.

Horrifying allegations
against a self-help organization...

[reporter] This woman says
she was held down and branded...

[reporter 2] He's accused
of turning female members

into sex sl*ves.

[reporter 3]
Members were branded and...

It was very well read, you know,

like, it had a million hits
or something on the website.

[Yusko]
It was just a shocking development.

The New York Times has more power

than the Albany Times Union,
more readership,

and when that story was published,
that just set something off.

[reporter]
Among women reportedly initiated

into the secret sisterhood
is India Oxenberg,

the 26-year-old daughter
of actress Catherine Oxenberg

from TV's original Dynasty.

Aah!

It was like a b*mb went off.

It caused a mass exodus
in the NXIVM community.

The media started
reaching out to all of us.

They even had reporters
at the Albany Center.

Allison and Nicki told us that they wanted

anything related to DOS

in a text, in an email, on Dropbox,

any communication with Keith destroyed.

We were frantic.
People were sending me links.

People were texting me constantly.

I was getting tons of calls, emails.

My mom was quoted
talking about my period and my hair loss.

I felt betrayed and embarrassed.

Everybody else who was in that article

chose to be in that article,
and I did not, and I was mad.

I knew that once India
saw that I was in this article

and I was talking about her
and her involvement in DOS

that she would completely shun me.

So it was bittersweet for me.

When the media decided
to call it a sex cult,

everyone who was part of NXIVM
was publicly linked to DOS.

Like, I didn't have sex,
but I was in a sex cult.

There was just grief and anger and rage

and embarrassment and shame.

I locked myself in my apartment
for three months.

[Meier]
The power of the story resided

in the insanity of the abuses
that were going on.

[reporter] The Times reports
that five women were told

to undress and lie on a massage table

while others restrained
her legs and shoulders.

[India] People say, like,
"How could you not have

run for the hills when
the New York Times came out?

And I'm like, "Because that is
just not how I was seeing it."

I thought this was a small issue

that I needed to resolve with my mom,

not that this was
a lot broader of a problem

that I was involved in.

[Catherine]
India was not remotely fazed

by the New York Times article.

That's when I made the decision
to do a second wave of media.

From television star to real-life drama,

Dynasty's Catherine Oxenberg

has made an excruciating decision
to go public.

[reporter]
She's a crusader on a desperate bid

to rescue her daughter, India,

from what some are calling
a dangerous sex cult.

India's part of a secret sisterhood

that's really run by Keith.

[reporter]
Oxenberg says her daughter burned

through her entire inheritance.

India also revealed she had
not menstruated in a year.

[Catherine]
This is a systematic process

of indoctrination that goes on
through the program.

This is years and years
of being tampered with.

I was in the middle
of this media shitstorm,

but I was trying to ignore it

because it was overwhelming.

I just wanted my mom to stop.

I thought that I was fine,

and I couldn't understand
why she was so afraid.

My daughter has every right
to be angry with me

because I would hate my mom
if my mom came out

and publicly exposed me in this way.

[India] Within the community,
they were telling me

she's crazy, she's a psychopath.

You know, she's just
an actress looking for attention.

She's trying to destroy us.

She's trying to destroy you,
ruin your reputation.

Those types of thoughts

were implanted
from the higher-ranking members of NXIVM

who wanted me to think that way.

[dramatic music]

[Catherine]
I was really risking everything

just to get somebody's attention.

I had threat letters to cease and desist

that came through Alex Betancourt
and Emiliano Salinas.

They were accusing me
of fraud and harassment.

I was warned by some friends of mine

that, should I go to Mexico,
that I would be k*lled.

But my visibility is my protection.

If something happened to me,
it would be very suspicious.

[unsettling music]

[Ross] I don't think
that Keith Raniere is capable

of admitting a mistake,
but if he were, he would say,

"Gee, I wish that I had just let
India Oxenberg go."

In fact, I should have told her to go.

I should have said, "India, I'm sorry.

"Your mom's making a mess.

Would you please just go home
and be with your family?"

But he looked at Catherine Oxenberg
and said, "Who do you think you are?

"You're just another woman,
and I will destroy you.

You are nothing."

[India] Keith instructed me
to come over to his house,

and he said to me, "We're gonna fix this.

We're gonna make you
the NXIVM poster child."

Nancy, Clare, Keith, and Allison

instructed me to write a testimony

and put it on Facebook
about how okay I was,

about how much I love DOS.

They had to approve every word.

"I'm absolutely fine, great, actually.

"I would never put myself
or the people that I love

into any danger."

[Vargas]
"These are my friends and colleagues.

I've never seen anything but good
come out of this work."

That, in my opinion, is evidence
of complete brainwashing.

[India] Clare Bronfman paid
for me to be evaluated

by a psychiatrist.

The conclusion was that I was fine.

I guess money can really pay

for any diagnosis that you need.

[Catherine] I heard
through various sources in NXIVM

that India had been subjected to more EMs

than anybody else in the organization.

The purpose of those EMs

was to sever any connection,

feelings of love, loyalty--

specifically to me,
who was a major threat.

That's what they're really good at.

Keith released a statement

to refute his involvement in DOS.

"I feel it is important
to clarify the sorority

"is not part of NXIVM

and that I'm not associated
with the group."

As usual, lying to everybody.

I met with several lawyers,

and the lawyers started
to give me a perspective,

which was these are criminals,
they're breaking the law.

You just have to figure out how.

I was advised to put together
enough evidence

to be able to get the interest
of the government,

and then I enlisted people
who had defected,

and together, we started to amass
text messages, emails--

any physical evidence

that could be used to incriminate Keith.

So here, "M will be paddled
for this as a consequence

"when she gets back home.

"Also, if I suffer, cry,

"or have any adverse reaction
to being hit,

I get hit more."

So these are the types of texts.

And then I have a huge amount of letters

from family members and loved ones

really urging
the government to take action

and to investigate this group.

I didn't know at that point
they were already investigating.

[Penza] When I read
the New York Times article,

it immediately felt apparent to me

that there was criminal conduct going on

and that there must be a lot more
to what I was reading about,

and so I started digging in.

My office very quickly got

an amazing team of FBI agents on board,

and within days, really,

we were interviewing
witnesses and victims.

We were not publicly identifying ourselves
as investigating

because we were concerned
that it would drive Keith Raniere

deeper underground or to another country.

So here we have a partial list
of the NXIVM crimes.

"Blackmail, coercion,
kidnapping, trafficking,

"aggravated as*ault,
aggravated harassment,

"aggravated sexual abuse,
battery, bribery,

"bringing undeclared money
into the U.S., coercion,

"computer tampering, computer trespassing,

"conducting scientific experiments
without due process,

"criminal mischief,
criminal nuisance, defamation,

"defrauding the government,
employment fraud,

endangering the welfare
of a child, extortion"--

I mean, it goes on and on
and on and on and on.

And all of this ended up going
to the FBI and the EDNY,

plus more.

Finally, I got a call from my lawyers

saying they had just spoken
to the prosecutor, Moira Penza.

She had a message for me

that I didn't have to carry
the burden of this

on my shoulders anymore.

The government and the FBI
were moving in aggressively.

[Penza]
By late in 2017,

the New York Times
and the Albany Times Union

had both written
that they believed that our office,

the Eastern District of New York,
had a pending investigation.

So we were in a situation

where we needed to have charges

that we could put into place quickly

while continuing our investigation

so that we would be able to charge him

with additional things down the road.

[Raniere] So, if you're a king
and you have this kingdom

and you live in this great life,

and suddenly that life might end

because there's an uprising

and there's this group of people,

and you're liable, and you go,
"Oh, my God,

"with all that not thinking
of other people

and all that fun I've had,
I'm gonna get f*cked."

[dramatic music]

[Catherine] In November 2017,
Keith fled to Mexico.

[India] The story that was told
within the community

was that Keith had to leave

because he needed to protect himself
because people were threatening his life.

[Penza]
He dropped his cell phone,

dropped his email address.

He was, in our view, on the run in Mexico.

[India] In Albany,
my whole reality was being shaken,

and I felt very alone

because not only was
I estranged from my mom,

I also didn't have any
of the other support system

that I was used to having,
and everyone was leaving the community.

And I was just sort of there
in Albany, waiting.

I felt this instinct
inside of me that said,

"You need to get out of here."

I think that becomes very clear

when you see
all the other people around you

running for the hills.

[plucky music]

♪ ♪

[India]
In February, 2018,

I moved into Allison Mack's
apartment in Brooklyn.

Getting myself out of Albany
was a huge step forward.

♪ ♪

But all I really had
was NXIVM and Allison,

because I had let go
of all the friends that I had before.

Even though I was out of Albany,
I was not out of DOS.

We were still doing check-ins.

We were doing readiness drills.
We were doing penances.

I was calorie counting.
I was reporting my weight.

We were trying to hold on to something.

Allison was paranoid
about who was watching her,

who might know that she lived here,

if press was gonna follow her here.

She was worried about all of those things.

[Catherine] I heard that my daughter
was living somewhere in Brooklyn

with Allison.

I was doing this photo sh**t
for People magazine,

randomly walking streets
while the photographer was following me,

and she had me just stop on this stoop,

and we took a picture,

and that was the picture
that they used in People magazine.

[voice breaking]
Unbeknownst to me,

Allison's apartment where India was living
was this building,

She literally sat here

and was able to see into my window.

She was that close to me,
and we had no idea.

She just brought herself here.

I was right there, and I didn't even know.

[crying] It was like something
drew me straight to her.

[dramatic music]

♪ ♪

[India]
I wasn't speaking to my mom,

and I was running out of money,
and I knew I needed to get a job.

I was just trying to find
something stable and normal

because I felt like my life
was kind of falling apart.

I became the manager
of a café in the East Village.

[camera shutter clicking]

The owners knew about the media.

There were very aware
because they were showing up

at the restaurant constantly.

Yeah, this is not appropriate,
like, it's not--you...

And it just got worse.

They let me stay in that job,

even though I know
it was probably difficult for them, too.

There were people that came
into the restaurant and said,

"If that cult girl works here,
we won't eat her food."

[camera shutter clicking]

I tried to go get an apartment.

People would just Google me,
and they would see, you know,

"India Oxenberg, branded sex sl*ve,"

and they would be like, "No way.
Not gonna room with this girl."

I felt totally exposed

and vulnerable and humiliated.

[Karadjordjevic]
Catherine was desperate

and didn't know
how to get through to India.

We tried to find ways to soften her up,

to get her to remember
happy moments in her childhood

when we were all together,

and occasionally
I would send her photographs.

I noticed that she would never pick
the phone up when I called her,

but occasionally
she would answer me by SMS.

So I went to see India,
where she was working

and trying to get her to talk to me,
and she couldn't.

Something stopped her.
It was so painful to see and...

I couldn't get through to her.

After that, we were pursued
by the media outside, sadly.

[in Spanish]
Lamentably, she hasn't woken up yet.

-[man] No está despierta.
-No.

[somber music]

[Penza, in English]
By Valentine's Day 2018,

our agents swore out
a criminal complaint

in the Eastern District before a judge.

Based on that complaint,

the judge issued an arrest warrant
for Keith Raniere.

Then we went about finding him.

[India]
Allison, Nicki,

and a few other first line DOS sl*ves

were ordered to go to Mexico to see Keith,
but I didn't know why.

[Catherine] What was revealed
was that Keith Raniere

summoned all his first line sl*ves
to come down to Mexico

to participate
in a "recommitment ceremony"

which consisted
of a group blow job for him.

Unbelievable that while
NXIVM is crashing down,

he had that much control
or power over them

that he was able to persuade
them to go down there

to participate in this group sex act

to demonstrate their undying devotion.

[dark music]

But before the ceremony could take place,

Nicki Clyne idiotically posted a picture
on her Instagram of herself

in front of a Puerto Vallarta landmark.

And that's how they located Keith Raniere.

[Raniere] So you're gonna lose
your life, your dignity,

any honor, any self-respect,

any respect that you have forever.

You will be--where you once were the king,

you will now be an object
of mockery and t*rture.

[Catherine]
The FBI enlisted the cooperation

of the Mexican federal police
to deport Keith

rather than going through
the normal channels of extradition.

The Federales,
with machine g*ns and bulletproof vests,

surrounded Keith's luxury villa.

While Allison, Nicki, and Dani
huddled in the patio,

the police kicked down the door
to Keith Raniere's bedroom.

They held Lauren Salzman on the floor

with three machine g*ns pointed at her.

Keith Raniere, the great Vanguard,

conceptual founder of NXIVM and ESP,

leader of SOP, Grandmaster of DOS,

ends up hiding in a closet, cowering.

[background chatter]

[dramatic music]

♪ ♪

[Clyne]
Let's go, in the cart.

We can--we're gonna
follow them.

-Get out of the way.
-[Mack] Huh?

[Clyne]
Lauren's coming.

[indistinct chatter in Spanish]

[Clyne]
Let's go, you guys.

[India] I was walking to work,
and my boss called me,

and he told me
that Keith had been arrested.

I just couldn't believe it.

[reporter]
This is the man the FBI says

has committed serious crimes
against humanity,

alleging he created
a secret society of women

he considered sex sl*ves
and that some of them

were branded with a symbol
incorporating his initials.

Keith Raniere was deported
to the United States

by the Mexican police,

and he was arraigned

on the criminal complaint.

We don't think there was any
nonconsensual criminal conduct,

and we look forward to our day in court.

[reporter]
The money that was offered up for bail

was $10 million
from an unnamed third party

put into a trust at the time
of Raniere's arrest.

Keith couldn't care less about wasting

another $10 million
of Clare Bronfman's money.

So he was a flight risk
'cause he could have easily escaped

to her island in Fiji
on her private plane.

Keith didn't make bail.
I was incredibly relieved.

I was thrilled at the judge's response.

[man] How's your daughter doing
and have you spoken to her?

[sighs]

My daughter uh, is-
is still on the inside.

She's not back yet.

[camera shutters clicking]

[Penza]
From the outset, I viewed NXIVM

as a criminal organization

and one that could be prosecuted
like the Mob.

So we really focused
on not only Keith Raniere

but also members of the inner circle

who committed crimes for him
and needed to be held accountable.

[Catherine] The U.S. attorney's office
sent my lawyers a copy

of the official criminal complaint
against Keith,

and even though the government
had warned me,

I was still in shock.

It was significant,
because in the criminal complaint,

there were two unnamed coconspirators.

It seemed clear that Allison Mack

was coconspirator number one

and India Oxenberg
was coconspirator number two.

I read through the entire document,

and I remember my hands were shaking.

Coconspirator two was unnamed, unindicted,

but it was clear
that it was my daughter, India.

I found out that India had been directed
by Allison Mack

to collect people's collateral.

That could be construed as wire fraud.

And also conspiracy to sex traffic,

that was my worst fear.

[dark music]

[Champion]
The concern became,

is India in danger of getting charged?

Is she in danger of getting
hauled before a grand jury

before she's ready to talk?

And it's sort of one
of those situations where,

you know, your clear choices are cooperate

or be charged.

[Catherine]
I immediately forwarded

the criminal complaint
to India by text, saying,

"I'm not making this up. This is reality."

[Catherine reading]

I was desperately trying to convince her
that she should turn herself in.

She did not respond.

[India] Four days after my mom
sent me that text,

two men dressed up in suits
arrived to Allison's apartment.

They were with the FBI,

and they wanted to talk
about Keith Raniere and NXIVM.

I was here alone.
Allison was still in Mexico.

I was open to speaking to them

because I didn't think
that anything was wrong at the time.

We spoke for about three hours.

I told them that there was
nothing bad happening in Albany

and that it was a misunderstanding.

I even told them that nothing sexual
had happened between Keith and I

because that was what I believed then.

♪ ♪

Shortly after they left,
I called Nicki and Allison in Mexico,

and I told them what I said.

I didn't really realize
the gravity of what I was dealing with.

At the time, there was just so much
that I didn't know

and that I wasn't able to really accept.

When Allison came back from Mexico
after Keith's arrest,

she was pretty paranoid.

She was definitely afraid for herself.

I wasn't home when they came for her.

[reporter] FBI agents swarmed
alleged NXIVM member

Allison Mack's Brooklyn apartment
this morning.

We're told the Smallville
actress has been arrested.

[Mack]
Keith has this incredible ability

to use whatever it is that you love most

to transform you from the inside

so that you can have a better experience
of your whole life.

[playing Beethoven's "Moonlight Sonata"]

♪ ♪

[reporter]
Mack facing sex-trafficking charges

after being accused
of helping to recruit women

as alleged sl*ves for a secret sorority
within an organization called NXIVM.

[reporter] Now prosecutors call
Allison Mack a sex trafficker,

forcing women to participate
in bizarre cult rituals.

Allison, did you help brand
India Oxenberg?

[camera shutters clicking]

[continues playing
"Moonlight Sonata"]

[reporter]
According to one of the prosecutors,

additional charges will be brought
against not-yet-named individuals.

[Penza]
We needed to make sure

that we were getting

the most culpable people

who really helped facilitate

Keith Raniere's criminal motives.

♪ ♪

[Clare]
Vanguard, there's a question

that you ask me frequently.

Has your being a part of my life

enhanced my life?

And I don't have words to tell you...

[voice breaking]
...how much it has.

[reporter]
Clare Bronfman,

heiress to the Seagrams liquor fortune,

was charged with racketeering.

[man]
I've been covering arraignments

for more than 30 years,
and I have never seen bail

set as high as it was today.

Clare Bronfman had her bail
set at $100 million.

[continues playing "Moonlight Sonata"]

♪ ♪

[Nancy] None of this would be
possible at all

without...

...without you, Keith.

["Moonlight Sonata" continues]

[reporter] Federal agents
arrested NXIVM president and co-founder

Nancy Salzman on Tuesday.

[reporter] Her Waterford home
was raided by FBI agents.

Investigators found hundreds
of thousands of dollars in cash.

[Lauren]
A heartfelt tribute to Vanguard.

You make it possible for us
to grow ourselves every day

into the people that we want to be.

[reporter]
They were all indicted on charges

of racketeering, conspiracy,

including wire fraud

and forced labor conspiracy
for Salzman's daughter Lauren,

who served on NXIVM's executive board.

♪ ♪

-[off-key notes play]
-Oh, well.

[playing flowing notes]

♪ ♪

[Catherine] Can't even imagine how scary
that must have been for India,

that people she trusted and she relied on

and she considered
her superiors in this group

were now, like, in front of a judge.

It was only after Allison was arrested

that she actually reached out
to me for the first time.

It was very tentative,
but it was a beginning.

India agreed to meet with Anne Champion,
one of my lawyers,

and Anne spent hours with her,
breaking down the criminal complaint

so that India would understand
that NXIVM was a criminal organization

and she was being used.

[India]
I remember sitting with you

and going over
the indictment page by page.

-Yeah.
-It was significant charges.

I could tell that you were
in a delicate state

and not ready to talk about everything.

-I couldn't even say it.
-Yeah, yeah.

I couldn't even say that I was a victim.

You know, the concern obviously was,

is India gonna be targeted
by these prosecutors?

You never know where
an investigation's gonna go.

Somebody might turn on you in an effort
to help themselves.

Right.

I mean, honestly, I think your mom was
looking for all the help she could get.

-Yeah.
-I think she was casting a wide net.

I mean, she was trying to help you.
It was all about you.

[India]
I know, I mean, it moves me

because what she told me months later,
which is that she nee--

[chuckles, sighs]

Hold on.
[chuckles]

[voice breaking]
She didn't want to throw me under the bus

or put me in the media in that way.

-Yeah.
-But that she needed

to show people that I was a victim
so that it could save me

from being prosecuted like Allison.

-Yeah, and I'm--
-And I was so mad...

[sniffling]
...'cause I just looked, like, so stupid,

and so, I felt so foolish,
and I just really didn't understand.

That took me so long,

but I can finally see
that my mom didn't have a choice.

She had to do what she did.

She was willing to go to the end
to get me out of this thing, and...

...I haven't seen that level of commitment
with a lot of the other parents

that have been involved in NXIVM

and have seen their children
get sucked into this thing, too.

After Allison was arrested,
I had to move out.

Allison's mom asked me
to pack up all of her things

and put them in storage.

I went in the middle of the night
so no one would see that I was moving out.

When I was packing up,

I found some things
that were a little more personal

and probably valuable.

So I didn't think
she would want them in storage,

like jewelry, a journal,

and these flash drives
that I just ended up

tossing into my duffel bag.

I moved back from New York
with my mom in Malibu,

but things were far from normal.

There was just so much
I wasn't ready to talk about or accept.

It wasn't until six months later
that I opened that duffle bag

and realized that the flash drives
were in there.

And I decided to see what was on them.

[Raniere]
Do you have a piece of paper and a pencil?

Run, hurry.

Back. Faster!

Well, the monogram as it is right now

is very directly related to

my initials.

[Woman 1] Is the brand
the same one going to be done in

every single person
that participates in DOS?

[Raniere]
Yes, yes. Yes.

When I first heard these recordings,
I was in shock.

These were Keith's own words,

basically designing
and instructing all of DOS.

So I was sorta thinking of it like this...

[Clyne]
Yeah, with a triangle and like a graph

and like it's a cool...

[Woman 2]
Or that's a V too.

[Clyne]
...alien symbol.

[Dani Padilla]
Victory.

[Woman 3]
I mean you can interpret it as a KR

but you can say like, no it's not.

It's actually K-A-R.

[Clyne]
I like that a lot.

This is an order,
this isn't a democracy...

[India] Finding these flash drives
was a huge turning point for me.

People had told me
that the brand was Keith's initials,

but I didn't believe it.

It wasn't until I heard it
in his own voice

that it actually sunk in,

that DOS was just
Keith's sick, perverted idea.

[suspenseful music]

♪ ♪

There wasn't just the recordings
on those drives.

There was also collateral.
There were spreadsheets.

There were photographs.

I realized I had something

that could be useful to the prosecution.

I gave them those flash drives,

and over the next few months,
the prosecutors started working with me

and preparing me to testify against Keith
and the other defendants.

I was very active as a cooperating witness
with the FBI,

so every month I was in New York
working with them.

When India described her experiences,

the prosecutors seemed to understand

that India didn't deliberately
abuse others for financial gain

or because she wanted
to have power over them.

But just because she was not the person

who was expected
to exercise active control,

she still had a role,

and Keith was using her in a certain role
to lure other people

or to make them feel safe to get involved.

[India]
I had to listen to the recordings

for hours and hours and hours

and identify every single detail.

[trainer]
One, two.

Two. Bam!

[India] It forced me to have to look
at everything in a very linear way,

and that started to help me
fill in the gaps in my own memory

and things that I had suppressed.

[dark music]

It took me nine months
after Keith was arrested

to be able to even just say the words

that something sexual did happen.

[soft music]

♪ ♪

I don't think until recently
was I able to comprehend

that this was r*pe,
that this was against my own will.

♪ ♪

I would never, ever have done this

if I didn't feel
like I was collateralized.

I would never have engaged
in any sexual acts with Keith.

I'd never have pursued him,

and I would never want this
to happen to anybody else.

This is not what I signed up for,
and this is not what I wanted to happen.

[reporter]
The leader of the suspected sex cult

is in court today
for the start of his trial.

Keith Raniere is accused of overseeing
a sl*ve-and-master system

where female members were
expected to have sex with him.

Keith Raniere stands alone.

All of his co-defendants
have pleaded guilty.

Those co-defendants

include Seagrams heiress Clare Bronfman

and Smallville star Allison Mack.

[Catherine]
He finally needs to be held accountable

for every single woman and child

that he's ever harmed, abused, exploited.

[reporter] Raniere has pleaded
not guilty to all charges,

which include sex trafficking
and racketeering.

The defense really
is a defense of good faith.

And if the jury finds
that Keith had good faith,

he's innocent of all the charges.

[Penza]
The biggest challenge with this case

is explaining to the jury

how any group or any person

who operates in this coercive manner

ends up victimizing someone.

[Catherine]
There were complicated legal arguments.

He had the best legal team
that money could buy.

It wasn't a slam dunk.

I'm not gonna comment on that.

[Agnifilo] It might be weird.
It might even be distasteful.

It might be inconsistent
with your morality.

But Keith Raniere,

the man that we're all studying
at this trial,

the man in the hot seat,

was he acting in good faith?

When he was doing these things,
was he doing them to be hurtful,

or was he doing them to be helpful?

I'm trying to focus
the jury on that concept.

[reporter] Mark Vicente was once
a member of NXIVM's board of directors.

Vicente testified NXIVM co-founder
Keith Raniere's inner circle

believed the so-called Vanguard
was so brilliant

that the government
considered him a threat

and his energy could impact the weather.

[Debora]
My name was mentioned 22 times

through Mark's testimony.

It turns out that I was one of the people

who made Mark see
that Keith had been lying--

not just about DOS, but about everything.

I'm proud of the small role I played.

Once you see something,
you can't unsee it.

It's the truth.

[Lalich]
What was really groundbreaking

in the trial of Keith Raniere

was the use of the concept
of coercive control,

to be able to convince the jury

that everything that was done
to these women

was done by force of coercion,

that it wasn't consensual.

[reporter]
Daniela testified that not only did

she get pregnant by Raniere,
so did her baby sister.

Both women got ab*rtion and were coached
on what to tell doctors

and not to mention Raniere.

[Ross]
I knew that Keith Raniere

had a harem of women

that he had groomed and that he controlled
for years.

But I did not realize how sadistic he was.

The trial brought all that out.

[reporter]
Raniere knowingly possessed

sexually explicit pictures of minors.

He doesn't have a moral compass.

He doesn't know--

He can't differentiate at all.
He'll justify any abuse.

[dark music]

♪ ♪

[India]
I wasn't allowed to be at the trial

because I was a cooperating witness
for the prosecution.

So I was just on standby,
just waiting to testify.

[reporter]
Former NXIVM insider Lauren Salzman

testified today that Raniere
expected female followers

to follow commands as if they
were "hungry dogs."

[India]
When I started to hear the details

about each witness,

I was in complete shock.

It was like, how did I not see this?

The prosecution presented private emails
between Allison and Keith

that had to do
with the seduction assignment

that Allison gave me.

Allison was trying to get paid
for her work in NXIVM,

but Keith wouldn't pay her
until she delivered me to him.

That was the exchange of me for money.

And I realized then that I was nothing
but a commodity to them

and that I had been trafficked.

I didn't matter at all.
None of us really mattered.

We were just things
that Allison was providing for Keith.

This was about force, fraud, coercion

being used to have people engage
in commercial sex acts.

The law criminalizes what he did.

[dynamic music]

[reporter]
Just came out from the courtroom

moments ago where this witness
referred to as Silvy,

finished up her testimony today
talking about being convinced

to join the master-and-sl*ve system
known as DOS...

I don't think he really ever wanted
to take advantage of anybody sexually.

People join NXIVM, you know,
and they like it.

It was like summer camp for orgasms.

These are choices
that adult men and women made

to have a certain life with each other.

And now, after the fact,
not unlike a divorce,

they're looking at it differently.

Well, maybe I was coerced,
or maybe I was brainwashed...

[Catherine]
I was appalled by how ruthless,

by how below the belt,

how sadistic the cross-examination was,

and I was terrified

that India was gonna
have to go through that.

Recordings played
in the Keith Raniere trial this week

give a disturbing glimpse
into the mind of the man

accused of running a secret society
in Saratoga County.

One of those recordings

included a conversation
between Raniere and Mack.

[Keith Raniere]
So, I think...

the person should ask to be branded.

[Mack]
Okay.

[Raniere]
The person who is being branded

should be completely nude and sort of

held to the table like a,

sort of almost like a sacrifice.

That's a feeling of submission. You know?

Pain is how we know how much we love.

[Mack]
Mm-hmm.

So that could be something
that they say initially,

they should say, "Please brand me,
it would be an honor,"

or something like that.

And they should probably say that

before they're held down,

so it doesn't seem
like they're being coerced.

And also, of course, videoing it,
and videoing it

from different angles or whatever
gives collateral.

Keith Raniere claimed

that he had no involvement in DOS,

so having the tapes of Keith

from India Oxenberg was enormous.

Hearing his voice in the courtroom

was hugely powerful evidence.

Being called master,
talking about being the leader of DOS,

talking about branding,
talking about collateral,

release of collateral if necessary.

It was completely contrary

to any defense he had

about the consensual nature of this

and his lack of involvement.

[Champion]
You had an individual

who's really at the top
of an organization,

and he's using that organization

to engage in criminal activity.

[Penza] DOS was about power
for Keith Raniere.

He really envisioned this
as a pyramid of women,

all blackmailable

to what he ultimately wanted to do.

[dark music]

[in Spanish] Noticieras Television
is the first news outlet in the world

to broadcast
this exclusive branding video.

[India, in English]
During the trial,

a video of Sarah Edmondson's
branding ceremony

was leaked in the Mexican press.

I think it was probably ordered
by Keith from prison

to be released
through someone in the organization

in Mexico to the Mexican media

as a threat to Sarah Edmondson.

It was meant to scare her
and anybody else who was in DOS

so that they wouldn't speak out
against NXIVM.

I've definitely had several panic attacks

around where my collateral is.

Like, what if he gets off?

What could he do? What could he do to you?

What could he do to your friends?

Like...

...that little piece of uncertainty
definitely kept me up at night.

[solemn music]

♪ ♪

After Lauren Salzman's testimony,
which was huge,

the FBI called to release me
from having to testify.

I remember thinking, like,
"You should be happy you got released.

"You did your job.

"You brought them important evidence
that they needed.

"You gave them the tapes.

You sat for hours and hours
of questioning."

But I just felt
like my job wasn't complete.

I decided it was really important
for me to be at the closing arguments.

I wanted to see Moira Penza
and the rest of the FBI team.

I had felt really nervous
about going to court.

And even the night before,
I had nightmares about seeing Keith.

[dramatic music]

I was in the back row of the courtroom,

and I looked at Keith.

He was sort of, like, just there,

and he looked really small
and really insignificant,

and I was thinking, like,

"How did I use to think
that you were so great?

Like, you just look so little now."

♪ ♪

I left.

I did not need to see Keith again.

♪ ♪

[Cangro]
It was a dense day for jurors,

and, really, the hard part
is just about to begin.

Keith Raniere's fate
is in the hands of the jury.

[ominous music]

♪ ♪

[somber music]

♪ ♪

[India]
Even though I had slowly started

to come to terms
with what had really happened

to me and other women,

when you're confronted with the reality
of what you were asking people to do

and what you were inviting them into,

the realization that I was capable of that

was so disturbing

because I had to remind myself
that I wasn't a monster,

and I had to sit with myself
and stare at the ceiling

and go, like, "Do I even know who I am?"

♪ ♪

-[crying]
-[Vermenot] Let it out.

♪ ♪

[continues crying]

♪ ♪

Open your eyes and realize
that you're here now.

You're not there.

-Okay.
-Open your eyes.

[speaks indistinctly]

[India]
It just feels like, a lot of heat.

[Vermenot]
That's good. That's releasing.

[crying]

♪ ♪

I know that I didn't do it
because I wanted to hurt people

or bring them into something bad.

Like, I do know that,
but it doesn't take away all of the guilt.

Like, one of the things
that kind of haunts me now

is, like, people would give me collateral,

and I would just, like, send it
to Allison.

I don't know where this collateral is.
I don't- I don't know who has it.

Okay.

I still feel shame about the part
that did push people.

Well, 'cause you think
it has to do with your character,

not Keith's,

but it has everything to do
with his character.

It is very much like someone
coming up from behind you,

like Keith, and knocking into you,

knocking you forward on purpose,

and then you knock someone else down.

You can take responsibility
for having knocked that person down,

but he was the one
who started the domino effect.

-Oh.
-It's his fault.

[reporter]
The jury began their deliberations

just before 9:30 this morning.

There's no telling
exactly how long the jury will take

for their deliberations.

If the jury thinks
that Keith is controlling,

which he is,

if he's hard on people, which he is,

but that he's those things
from a more positive place

to help them,

then I think we have a chance
with a lot of the charges.

[indistinct chatter]

Guilty on all!

[man]
Yep. Guilty of all charges.

[overlapping chatter]

Guilty, guilty, guilty, guilty, guilty!

Guilty!

-Do you want to say hi to Catherine?
-Yes.

I'm so happy. Congratulations.

I'm so happy. Oh, my God.

So I just wanted you to know.

[India] I sat there
on the phone and rejoiced.

I felt a sense of relief

because my whole life
was in a holding pattern.

Like, I couldn't really move forward
until after this was done.

Well, she just found out. She's in shock.

I mean, I'm in shock as well,
because this has been kind of...

[sighs] ...the culmination
of such an incredible fight.

It's precedent-setting
for sex trafficking,

for labor trafficking,
for coercive control of women.

This trial has revealed that Raniere,

who portrayed himself
as a savant and a genius,

was, in fact, a master manipulator,

a con man, and the crime boss
of a cult-like organization.

Keith Raniere's crime spree has ended,

and his victims will finally see justice.

Is this gonna change the law
for coercion...

-[woman] Yes.
-...and coercive control?

[Donoghue]
I don't know.

I mean, if the law will change,

that would have to be
something in the legislature.

Thank you.

I hope that Keith Raniere is sentenced

to spend the rest
of his natural life in jail.

[cheers and applause]

I believe that if he were
to be released before that

that there is a substantial risk

that he would continue to abuse
and victimize women.

[Catherine] Just to be in the room
and to be able to hear

all these other people see the truth,

see this man for who he is,

see the harm that he's perpetrated
on so many people,

and make the decision
to bring an end to it...

...it's a great moment.

[India]
After a six-week trial,

it only took the jury four hours to decide

that he was guilty on all counts.

They knew exactly
who Keith was, what he did,

everything that we couldn't see
all those years.

[unsettling music]

♪ ♪

I think I had this expectation that...

when the trial was over,
I'd just feel good again.

I just think a part of me
really liked the idea

that I could have some kind of closure,

but the realization
that what I was involved in,

that the seed of it was bad,

it's not something that just goes away.

How do I learn to trust myself again?

[Lalich] Leaving a cult
is an extremely confusing time.

One problem for India is how young she was

when she got involved.

The human brain isn't actually
fully developed until you're 25.

She had very impressionable years

that she was being indoctrinated by Keith
and the others in the cult.

So coming out of that is very difficult,

and it means slowly kind of unpacking
the indoctrination.

It really takes determination
and dedication

and support of the people around you.

And I think, fortunately, India has that.

[India] I think the thing
that I think about a lot is...

I see what you did for me now

totally different
than how I thought before.

A lot of the time,

like, I would be there in NXIVM

and have to kind of, like, hide the fact
that I might communicate with you.

Or, like, I remember even
sending you, like, a happy Mother's Day.

I know, I loved that happy Mother's Day.

And I was like, "I can't let anybody know

that I kind of like you,"

'cause you're, like, the bad guy.

I'm just, like, archenemy,
villain number one.

When I would get those texts from you,
I would feel you.

Like, I would go, "She's still there.
That's my India."

I mean, like, I can laugh
about it now a little bit.

Well, the fact that you can laugh about it
means that...

it's behind you.

Yeah, most of it. Yeah.

It's definitely, definitely a process.

Yeah, that...
[sighs]

...I get.

I mean, I wish that the process

wasn't so challenging,

but I recognize that it is.

-I know you do.
-Yeah.

Do you want a hug?

[both laugh]

[emotional music]

♪ ♪

[Jill] Once I found out that the brand
had Keith's initials in it,

every day I just remember
going to the mirror

and just doing that
and just being like, "f*ck,"

like, and almost feeling so dumb
for not having seen it before.

Like, how did I not see this?

It's been two and a half years.

Like, I kind of had started thinking

I was going to have this
the rest of my life,

because I'm not super stoked
about surgery.

[India] For a while, I thought
surgery was the only option.

And then I found out
that I could tattoo it.

-And I mean, I'm happy to show it to you.
-I'd love to see it.

It's pretty- it's pretty well concealed.

Let's see here.

-[Jill] Wow.
-[India] You can see there.

You can barely see
the pigment of the scar.

[Jill]
Oh, my God, that is amazing.

[India]
It says "ancora imparo,"

which means still learning,
which I thought was appropriate.

Beautiful.

[India]
Okay.

[man]
Got to put it right here.

[India]
And then fast.

-[man] That works.
-[India gasps]

After NXIVM, it was really hard
for me to trust anybody.

I didn't want to let anyone into my life.

Like, the last thing
I wanted was a boyfriend.

But Patrick was persistent.

It was actually Patrick
who really started

to help me eat regular meals,

'cause before then,
I was just eating one thing

like squash or raspberries or eggs.

So, when he started to cook me
breakfast, he would say,

"Can I make you eggs
with spinach or cheese or tomato?"

And he would add one ingredient at a time.

So I would feel comfortable
with a full meal.

[Patrick]
All right, let's put one more in.

-Okay.
-You're hired.

-That's upside down.
-[laughs]

He reminds me how to have fun.

You know, Patrick didn't see me
as a branded sex sl*ve.

He just saw me as a girl
that he wanted to know.

But he has to deal
with what other people think of me,

and sometimes
he gets dragged into that.

He understands
that this is a part of my life,

and he supports me in what I need to do.

[solemn music]

I thought NXIVM
was gonna give me a purpose,

but even though it turned out
to be completely destructive,

NXIVM led me to a real purpose.

It made me want to figure out

how to use what I went through
in a positive way.

♪ ♪

[women]
Are we ready?

And I wish everybody a good time.

-Yes.
-Are you ready, India?

-Yeah.
-All right, let's do this.

-Everybody's ready.
-Let's do it.

♪ ♪

[India] I realize this
is much bigger than me.

A group of us were invited to speak

at the Arizona State University
Law School.

These law students are the ones
who can write the legislation

that will protect
against future Keith Ranieres.

♪ ♪

[Kelly]
It's scary a little bit.

Talking about NXIVM is not okay

with people who are still loyal,

and I have been told by people

to basically just keep my head down
and shut the f*ck up.

And to be honest,

that made me want to do this even more.

[students clapping]

So how easy was this for you to join in,

for you to follow me?

A little weird, yes?

But you thought, "Why not?"

[Kelly] NXIVM had
a brilliant micro-recruiting process.

I was targeted because I was intelligent,

I had access to resources

and to social and business networks.

I spent seven years and over $50,000,

followed up by another $15,000

in therapy to recover, for nothing.

Most people in cults
are either sexually abused,

financially enslaved,
or emotionally coerced.

It takes years to deprogram and unlearn

even if there is no physical mark.

Sometimes the indoctrination
is embedded so deep

that it never goes away.

Our brains are branded.

[India] Like everyone else
I know who joined NXIVM,

I came into this very optimistic,

searching for ways to better myself.

In 2016, Allison Mack
recruited me into DOS.

I was branded with a cauterizing pen

that was extremely painful procedure
that took months to heal.

Every woman I know
who joined DOS is intelligent

and passionate about life
and just wanted to be better.

There's no way to help victims
or solve these problems

unless you stop judging us.

I hope that bringing faces to the people

who have been associated
with the words like

"cult," "coercion," "victim"

will bring this room
a better understanding

rather than thinking,
"This could never be me."

So thank you.

[applause]

♪ ♪

When I was coming here today,
I thought to myself,

"There's no way
I could become involved in this."

And as I've listened to you,

I've come
to the exact opposite conclusion.

[laughter]

First, I applaud all of you
for being here.

Honestly, I really do.

Secondly, I implore you
to engage with legislators,

engage with policymakers,

because meeting you, talking to you,
that's what's gonna make it real for them.

[applause]

[Karadjordjevic]
I believe in the phoenix theory:

Out of ashes comes something wonderful,

so out of this ash is going to be
a whole new movement

of protecting girls from such-
such horrors.

And I'm sorry India
had to go through this,

but maybe she was destined.

[India]
For a long time,

I didn't want to tell my story.

It's overwhelming,
but I feel like what we're doing now

can actually make a difference.

This is just the beginning.

I know that there are laws
in other countries

against unethical coercion,

and I am working on getting
the same thing

here in the United States.

Cult leaders around the world
should live in fear, not us.

It hasn't been easy,
but I'm not gonna give up.

This is a human-rights issue.

[Ashley]
I'm going to keep telling my story,

and I just completed my masters

in the psychology of coercive control.

I write stand-up, and I perform it.

-[cheers and applause]
-Oh, my God.

I just, um-
I just escaped a cult.

I'm just so glad I made it here.

Sometimes I also feel proud

that I actually went through that,
and I've grown a lot, and I learned a lot.

It's kind of like my secret superpower.

There is a sea
of personal-development classes,

but you can't just believe
that every second person

on Sunset Boulevard
is your transformational coach.

[Catherine]
In the U.S. alone,

self-help is
an 11 billion-dollar-a-year business,

and it's completely unregulated.

You can hijack somebody's brain
without them being aware of it.

You can change their belief system.

You can change the way they think
without them even knowing.

[Lalich] People don't want to think
it can happen to them.

The most common misconceptions
about people who join cults

is that they're stupid, crazy, weird.

This idea is absolutely
the opposite of the reality.

Cults recruit the best
and the brightest in our society.

I have done interventions to deprogram

five medical doctors
and a clinical psychologist.

[Catherine] It was India's intelligence
that was her liability.

Her altruism, she wanted to live
a life bigger than hers,

to participate in something more noble.

[Ross]
Coercive persuasion

can happen anyplace to anyone.

For us to just say,
"Well, why would anybody do that?"

We're ignoring the context.

We're ignoring what led up to that event.

[Hassan]
This is such a critical time

in the history of the world.

We're no longer in the age of information.

Hello, you guys.

[Hassan]
We're living in the age of influence.

But there really are differences

between ethical forms of influence,

where you have choice,
free will, conscience,

and unethical influence

based on power and control.

The experiences I had in NXIVM
will never just go away.

I can't erase them.

I have to find a way to live
with my choices every day.

I'm trying to make sure

that others don't have
the experience that I did...

...because as soon as you think
that something like this

will never happen to you,

that's exactly when it can.

[dark music]

♪ ♪