'Master please brand me': Nxivm sex cult founder Keith Raniere created a sick oath to make burning his initials into bikini lines look voluntary as other branded women held down his nude 'slaves'
- Nxivm founder Keith Raniere was heard asking actress Allison Mack: 'Do you think a person should be completely nude and held to the table, like a sacrifice?'
- January 2017 audio was played during the cult founder's sex trafficking trial
- Raniere said 'the person should also ask to be branded' with his initials K.A.R.
- He wanted victims to say it was 'an honor I want to wear for the rest of my life'
- Raniere believed it would make it look like they weren't coerced
- Women raised concerns of husband's finding out and Raniere suggested a secondary position of 'on the top of the butt crack'
- NXIVM deputy Lauren Salzman, 42, testified that the ritual was 'frightening'
Nxivm founder Keith Raniere created an oath for sex trafficking victims to say during painful branding ceremonies so it looked like the cult ritual of mutilating their private regions with his initials was voluntary.
Raniere featured in a January 2017 recording where he planned the services, which were later administered by doctor Danielle Roberts using a branding pen, with actress Allison Mack and it was shown in court Wednesday.
He decided about etching K.A.R. into women's skin: 'The person should also ask to be branded.'
'Master please brand me. It would be an honor, and an honor I want to wear for the rest of my life,' Raniere, 58, suggested for an oath in the footage recorded by NXIVM leaders. He continued: 'Although my body may be burned or tortured or whatever, my love is stronger.'
Nxivm founder Keith Raniere said 'the person should also ask to be branded' with his initials
The branding went near the bikini line or 'on the top of the butt crack' as an alternative. Raniere was concerned pubic hair could obstruct the view of his 'K.A.R' symbol
Assistant U.S. Attorney Tanya Hajjar and former self-help guru Keith Raniere (R) are seen, in this courtroom sketch, at the Brooklyn Federal Courthouse in New York on May 7
He added: 'They should probably say that before they're held down so it doesn't seem like they're being coerced.'
Before that Raniere had asked Mack – known for her role on TV show Smallville – about how to convey 'the feeling of submission'.
Raniere posed the question: 'Do you think a person should be completely nude and held to the table, almost like a sacrifice?'
The audio was turned in to Assistant U.S. Attorney Tanya Hajjar by Mack and one of her alleged slaves, India Oxenberg, whose mother is Dynasty actress Catherine Oxenberg.
In the recording a woman was heard saying: 'If you have a husband and now you have this thing, I think they're going to try to figure it out.'
Raniere is heard saying: 'The secondary site … is on the top of the butt crack, or whatever…
'I think in general it should be outside the [pubic] hair, because when the hair grows back it'll cover it. … I think it needs to be visible but not visible.'
The content of the recording was revealed as NXIVM deputy Lauren Salzman, 42, testified for a fourth day and revealed details of her intimate relationship with the cult leader.
Raniere was heard asking actress Allison Mack: 'Do you think a person should be completely nude and held to the table, like a sacrifice?'. Mack (pictured April 8) has pleaded guilty
Salzman said Sarah Edmondson (pictured September 2009) practiced 'yogic breathing' during her branding
Dr. Danielle Roberts carried out the brandings with a pen and is identified as a bikini-clad brunette smiling at the NXIVM retreat in Fiji, 2014
Salzman was the 'first-line master' in their group named DOS – initials for a rough Latin translation of 'Lord/Master of the Obedient Female Companions' or 'The Vow' - where members were made to perform free labor and have sex with Raniere at times.
The cult was advertised as a sisterhood and before members were accepted they had to submit some kind of guarantee they wouldn't share information, she testified. It would often be nude pictures.
Once you have collateral over somebody's head, the way they act in the situation is entirely different,' Salzman testified. 'It's not consensual in the way that it appears.'
Salzman testified that naked women would gather in a circle around a massage table and hold the arms over the head of the woman being branded.
The first 'slave' to be branded was a woman name Jimena, described as 'overtly very expressive' and someone who 'demonstrated what she felt'.
'It looked really scary … it was frightening to see, and it scared the other girls,' admitted.
Lauren Salzman, 42, was the 'first-line master' in their group and said the branding 'looked really scary … it was frightening to see, and it scared the other girls'
Lauren's mother Nancy Salzman is the sex cult's co-founder. She is pictured arriving to Brooklyn federal court in New York on January 28
Another person being branded named Sarah Edmondson – who has spoken about her experience on CBC podcast Uncover: Escaping NXIVM - practiced 'yogic breathing'. She also gave an interview to the New York Times in 2017.
Lauren Salzman claimed he also 'briefly' had a relationship with her own mother, NXIVM co-founder Nancy Salzman.
Lauren broke down on the stand and Raniere's lawyer was criticized by the judge for his tough questioning.
Judge Nicholas Garaufis told Marc Agnifilo 'went way over the line' in what he thought was 'extremely excruciating' cross-examining.
'Before I'm a judge, I'm a human being,' Garaufis said.
Raniere was arrested during a police raid in March 2018.
He has pleaded not guilty to charges including sex trafficking and child pornography, and his lawyer has argued that he never forced any women to act against their will.
Raniere faces life in prison if convicted.
Judge Garaufis told Marc Agnifilo 'went way over the line' in what he thought was 'extremely excruciating' cross-examining of Lauren Salzman this week in United States Federal Courthouse in Brooklyn. He's pictured left in May 2018
