NEW YORK (AP) – The leader of a secretive group accused of coercing female followers into having sex and getting branded with his initials faced a federal judge Friday who ordered him to remain behind bars weeks after his arrest in Mexico.
Keith Raniere responded “Yes, your honor” when Judge Steven L. Tiscione asked whether he understood the charges the FBI filed against him – sex trafficking and forced labor conspiracy.
The 57-year-old Raniere, who sold himself as a self-improvement guru to the stars, was brought to the United States from Mexico on March 26. He did not enter a plea during the Brooklyn federal court hearing. His attorney said no bail is currently being requested, and issued a permanent order of detention.
“I’m feeling safe for the first time in years. I feel free,” said Raniere’s ex-girlfriend, Barbara Boucher, who left him in 2009 and said she was “stalked” by members of his group, called NXIVM, pronounced Nexium.
She said that seeing him for the first time in nine years as he walked quietly into the courtroom wearing a pale green jumpsuit, she “felt a lot of grief, like a death, because I deeply loved this man.”