Cults and Extreme Belief

Slaves, masters, and a secret sex cult--

and now, a federal indictment.

A&E investigates NXIVM

I don't think people can imagine

what it's like to have your skin seared open for 40

or 45 minutes.

There's me and me brand, front page of "The New York Times."

Keith Raniere, the founder of NXIVM,

is accused of coercing women into being sex slaves.

He's now facing federal charges,

including sex trafficking.

We were all pawns for him in his sick, perverted fantasy,

especially women.

What would you say to Keith if you had the chance

to say anything to him now?

I would say that he messed with the wrong person.

Let's go sit over there.

Here at the table spot.

It's a good place.

Yeah. Water?

- Yes, please. -

Yeah.

So I was looking through the Facebook page.

Check this out.

So this was 2013 Michelle, in.

Still in.

Left.

Left. In.

In.

I was in NXIVM for 12 years,

and I left six months ago.

Until recently, my primary social group was NXIVM.

My husband started NXIVM a few years before I did.

And when he and I met, we were friends for a few years

before we started dating.

And this was the happiest people

because, for a moment, they forgot they were in a cult.

I was born and raised and spent

my entire childhood and most of my teenage life in Vancouver.

My parents were former hippies, Then my mom became a therapist.

My dad's a counselor.

Self-help, and therapy, and introspection,

and self-awareness was a big part of my life

since as long as I can remember.

I was very much a seeker from a young age.

It didn't feel like I was having the impact that I was hoping

that I'd gain from acting.

And that's when I met Mark Vicente.

He and I connected immediately.

So Sarah and I met on a cruise ship.

I think it was 2004, 2005.

I was a judge at a film festival at sea.

We just chatted all night.

And by the end of the week, he had told us about the smartest

man in the world that lived in upstate New York

and this group people that were really changing things.

I don't even remember the specifics of it.

I just knew that I wanted to be a part of it,

and I wanted to work with Mark.

He thought I would've really loved the NXIVM

five-day course, and it just so happened

that there was a five-day workshop in Vancouver

a few weeks after that.

I put my deposit down to take the course,

and I paid over $2000.

NXIVM says that it's a self-help group.

It's a set of tools or an educational system

to help people evolve their limiting beliefs,

and to understand themselves better,

and take everything to the next level.

The goal is to help people relieve themselves

of the patterns and the issues they've

had their whole life to be a more

optimal version of themselves.

It's a workshop that, when you do this right,

an issue you've had for your entire life will be gone.

The first class is a class called rules and rituals.

We call it that because these are the rituals

that we use in our program.

For example, we take our shoes off at the door.

We call Keith Raniere vanguard because a vanguard

means it's a leader of a philosophical movement.

There is a ranking system similar to martial arts

using sashes.

And all of it's been preempted with--

there is going to be things that happen in this module that will

make you uncomfortable, and you will feel the urge to bolt.

And that's totally normal.

And when you feel that, just speak to any of the coaches.

Put your hand up.

We're happy to help you.

It means that you're doing it right.

How long did it take you to suspend your skepticism

and say, OK, you know?

Day three-- day three of the five.

The first three days of my five-day,

I was very closed and very, very skeptical.

And then by the third day, I had enough shifts,

basically from doing therapy for 14-hours a day for three days.

And I felt very differently.

And I was like, OK.

This is great.

I'm in.

The night of the third day, I had a huge shift,

and I thought it was amazing.

And every time I took a training, I felt better.

And I felt more options in my life,

and I started to breakthrough limitations in my career.

My close friends saw me, and they

would see a difference in me.

And they, whatever you're doing, what is that?

I want to do that.

And I remember feeling like I had

been given a book of secrets.

And then in 2009, Mark Vicente and I became business partners,

and we actually opened a physical center

here in Vancouver.

We were incredibly successful, bustling, great energy.

At the highest, we had over 240, I believe, full-time students.

People would come in.

They'd see my presentation.

They're like, I don't even know this is.

But I love the people here, and I want to be a part of this.

And it was amazing.

I brought so many people into NXIVM.

And at the time, I thought I was inviting them to something

that was really helpful.

Keith did this big enrollment push and was like,

we need to create an enrollment culture--

and started recruiting, recruiting, recruiting.

I had a huge network.

I was a natural promoter.

And I was signing people up and sharing my success,

and I felt really on fire.

Check this out.

So, I took a lot of photographs with Keith Raniere.

I was always trying to make him look better.

You know, I was always trying to make him look like--

More normal?

Yeah.

This is part of his mannerisms.

Yeah.

What does this mean?

It means to come close to me, feel comfortable with me.

Yeah. I'm harmless.

I'm harmless.

You can trust me.

I'm not a sociopath.

I won't molest you.

And when you run a personal development program,

our main emphasis, our main belief

is to have people experience more joy in their lives.

And from that, all sorts of interesting effects

appear to happen.

Keith is the leader of NXIVM.

He's the philosophical founder.

We were told that Keith is a genius with an IQ of 240.

He was speaking in full sentences at the age of one.

He was a concert pianist.

He was the east coast judo champion at 11.

He earned degrees in mathematics,

biology, and physics.

Keith is a businessman who created NXIVM in 1998.

Under Keith's leadership, NXIVM has

brought in millions for personal and professional development

programs.

We're a success program.

Richard Branson took our course.

The Dalai Lama is endorsing us.

Allison Mack, who is an actress, is part of NXIVM.

NXIVM has an image of very happy, good looking,

successful people--

and especially women.

This is very important to create that image

because it's a very powerful tool for recruiting.

When I first met

I just turned 28, and I was definitely

looking forward to meeting him.

He was the founder of NXIVM, solving

the world's biggest problems.

He was this selfless humanitarian.

When you're someone like me that values

intelligence and you're told this

is the smartest man in the world,

highest IQ ever scored, you got me.

Because of everything I was told and the things he would say,

I elevated him in my mind to somebody who really

understood the human condition.

I was the person responsible for creating

those videos that are online.

When I looked back at them recently, I was thinking,

what is he saying?

He's not saying anything.

We have sterling credentials that we have

no credentials in the field.

See, credentials seem to be self-limiting in the field.

He did some things with me that were really interesting.

I'll give you an example.

I was sent a video from one of my Mexican contacts

who was a civil rights guy of four women being