Physical Address
304 North Cardinal St.
Dorchester Center, MA 02124
Expert cybercrime analysts for a convicted sex trafficker say evidence in some of the most shocking charges against him was manipulated and placed in storage units that were supposed to be in secure FBI custody, according to court documents.
NXIVM sex cult Founder Keith Raniere, 64, is serving a 120-year sentence in a federal prison in Tucson, Arizona. Prosecutors said he recruited women and girls for a sex cult disguised as a self-help organization. He had an “inner circle” of “slaves” and “masters.” Some of the women marked Raniere’s initials on their bodies. Prosecutors allege he held a maid captive in a room for nearly two years.
One survivor, India Oxenberg, told FOX News True Crime Podcast She endured “dehumanizing” treatment, including “repeated abuse and rape” before she and her mother escaped the cult.
The FBI declined to comment when contacted by Fox News Digital.
FOUNDER OF SELF-HELP GROUP NXIVM, KEITH RANIERE, SENTENCED TO 120 YEARS FOR SEX TRAFFICKING
Keith Raniere, former leader of NXIVM, was convicted in 2019 on seven counts including racketeering, racketeering conspiracy, wire fraud conspiracy, forced labor conspiracy, sex trafficking, sex trafficking conspiracy and attempted sex trafficking. (YouTube)
In addition to the abuse against adult victims, federal prosecutors charged that Raniere was 45 years old and that a child victim, identified only as “Camila,” was 15 years old when he took photographs of her and sexually abused her.
Raniere’s lead attorney, Joseph Tully, told Fox News Digital that the evidence used to convict his client of the “most egregious” charges — child pornography and child exploitation — was “likely” manipulated and planted by the FBI.
“If I could have a hearing, I could show the world that, as outrageous as it may seem, this manipulation happened, and it happened while I was in FBI custody,” he said.
At stake are dozens of photographs on a memory card and hard drive whose time stamps, defense experts say, were altered, allegedly making it appear that a young woman was under the age of consent in the moment they were taken. Between April 2019 and June 2019, additional photos allegedly appeared on the FBI forensic reportaccording to court documents.
REGISTER TO GET TRUE CRIME BULLETIN
Alan DershowitzThe prominent constitutional lawyer is not part of Raniere’s team, but consulted with his lawyers after learning of the FBI misconduct allegations.
He told Fox News Digital that if Raniere’s experts are right, it would amount to “a staggering act of government misconduct.” If the allegations prove true, they could affect other cases.
The NXIVM Executive Success Programs sign outside the office at 455 New Karner Road on April 26, 2018, in Albany, New York Keith Raniere, founder of NXIVM, was arrested by the FBI in Mexico in March 2018. (Amy Luke/Getty Images)
SEX CULT MEMBERS DETAIL FORCED KISSES, BRAND
He said the late filing of charges involving a child tipped the scales in favor of the prosecution.
“They had a very, very, very weak alleged case against the defendant, very weak. He could have easily won the case, and then at the last minute, they ‘discovered’ a photograph of a woman, naked, who, they claim, “I was a minor,” he told Fox News Digital in an interview. “Now, once anything involving an underage female is introduced into evidence, the case is over.”
Another defendant took almost immediately a plea dealsaid. Four other co-defendants ultimately chose to plead as well.
Read the affidavit of Dr. Porter:
GET REAL-TIME UPDATES DIRECTLY ON THE TRUE CENTER OF CRIME
But defense experts, in a series of statements filed in federal court last month, now say the photographs were taken when the woman was over the age of consent and then manipulated to make them appear as if they had been taken earlier. .
“Why shouldn’t we have a hearing? And this doesn’t just involve Mr. Raniere. It involves all Americans,” Dershowitz said. “When you have someone in jail, who is there as a result of tampering with government evidence, it’s the Soviet Union. It’s Iran. It’s China. It’s not the United States of America.”
Clare Bronfman, heiress to the Seagram liquor empire, arrives for a hearing on charges related to the Albany-based organization NXIVM, in U.S. Federal Court in Brooklyn, New York, on July 25, 2018. (Reuters/Brendan McDermid)
The FBI did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the defense experts’ conclusions. The U.S. Attorney’s Office that handled the case declined to comment. A response is not due in court until January 27.
It’s unclear why the FBI or federal prosecutors would supposedly frame Raniere, but Tully, who wrote a 2018 book about corruption in the criminal justice system, said his client had extremely wealthy enemies and was simply unpopular.
“They wanted to ‘get him,'” he told Fox News Digital. “When the popular kid at school wants to make one of the poorer kids who has holes in his shoes the laughing stock of the school, they do it. And that kind of human behavior doesn’t change when those kids grow up and get their law. degree and I want to be a prosecutor.”
Newsweek first reported on the allegations in late December, but Raniere has yet to receive a hearing nearly a month later.
Actress Allison Mack arrives at the United States Eastern District Court on May 4, 2018, after a bail hearing on sex trafficking charges filed against her in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. The actress known for her role in “Smallville” was accused of sex trafficking, along with alleged cult leader Keith Raniere. (Jemal Condesa/Getty Images)
“And the government is desperate not to have a hearing,” Dershowitz said. “They don’t want public records to show that seven experts, including some who worked for the FBI, who they use to get convictions against people, are now saying it was tampered with evidence.”
Raniere’s defense lawyers ask for a new trial. In a court filing, they alleged that “the government knowingly used manipulated evidence to secure a conviction” based on the conclusions of seven of their experts.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
Raniere billed himself as a wellness guru, and his program attracted prominent women into his orbit, including actress Allison Mack and Seagram heiress Clare Bronfman, both convicted of minor charges. Critics called NXIVM a cult focused on sex trafficking and abuse.
A central allegation in the racketeering case against Raniere was that he had a sexual relationship with “Camila,” the alleged 15-year-old girl. He was sentenced to 120 years in prison.
LOOK: Survivor of the NXIVM sect recounts physical and mental abuse
Dr. Richard Kiper, a leading expert and former FBI agent specializing in cybersecurity and digital evidence, wrote in a 59-page affidavit that while reviewing the case for the defense, he “discovered specific actions that were taken to manually alter the evidence.” “. and support the prosecution’s allegations.
FOLLOW THE FOX TRUE CRIME TEAM ON X
“In my 20 years as an FBI agent, I have never observed or alleged that an FBI employee tampered with evidence, digital or otherwise,” he wrote. “But in this case, I firmly believe that the multiple intentional alterations of digital information that I have discovered constitute tampering with evidence.”
