NXIVM sex cult victims' names accidentally published in court breach

9 News, Australia/March 24, 2021

By Nick Pearson

The victims of the notorious NXIVM sex cult leader Keith Raniere have been accidentally made public by his legal team.

The full names and medical information of the victims were revealed in court documents filed by Raniere's team in New York just after midnight on Tuesday.

They were quickly sealed on the orders of Federal Court Judge Nicholas Garaufis, the New York Daily News reports.

The leak was revealed in a filing by prosecutor Tanya Hajjar.

"The Raniere Filing contains the full names of victims and sensitive victim information, including medical records, in contravention of the Court's orders in the above-captioned case," Ms Hajjar wrote in a court filing.

She asked the judge to "sanction" the lawyers if they did so again.

Her filing noted Raniere's lawyer had made a "technical error", believing the documents to be sealed when he filed them.

In November Raniere was sentenced to 120 years in jail for turning some of his cult followers into sex slaves.

The victims were branded with his initials and ordered to have sex with him.

One teenage victim was confined to a room for nearly two years.

"This trial has revealed that Raniere, who portrayed himself as a savant and a genius, was in fact a massive manipulator, a con man, and the crime boss of a cult-like organisation involved in sex trafficking, child pornography, extortion, compelled abortions, branding, degradation and humiliation," US Attorney Richard P Donoghue said after Raniere's conviction.

The NXIVM cult was presented as a self-help group, but as followers became more involved, they were drawn into an oppressive cult.

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