‘Smallville’ actress Allison Mack pleads not guilty to sex trafficking
“Smallville” actress Allison Mack was arrested Fridayfor her role in the notorious upstate cult Nxivm, where prosecutors allege she recruited “slaves” to have sex with the group’s leader.
A gaunt, disheveled Mack appeared in Brooklyn federal court where she pleaded not guilty to charges of sex trafficking and forced labor — a month after Nxivm leader Keith Raniere was collared on the same charges.
Mack, 35, was Raniere’s direct “slave” and had a sexual relationship with him — but also acted as a “master” to other slaves, who were forced to have Raniere’s initials burned into their pubic region with a cauterizing pen, according to the criminal complaint.
As the women were being branded like cattle, Mack allegedly placed her hands on their chests and told them to “feel the pain” and to “think of [their] master,” prosecutors say.
The actress first lured the women into the secret society within Nxivm known as “The Vow” — and cajoled them into providing “collateral” like embarrassing photos and statements to use as blackmail, prosecutors allege.
She then allegedly groomed the slaves for sex with Raniere — ordering them to adhere to extremely restrictive diets, to refrain from removing their pubic hair and to stay celibate, according to court documents.
“Ms. Mack was one of the top members of a highly organized scheme which was designed to provide sex to [Raniere],” Assistant US Attorney Moira Penza said in court Friday.
She also forced them to pose naked for photos — “including on one occasion close-up pictures of their vaginas” — which were given to Raniere and also used as collateral, the feds charge.
Mack and other slave “masters” allegedly made their slaves participate in “readiness” drills, requiring them to respond to requests at any time of the day or night so they were “seriously sleep-deprived.”
One of her slaves became so thin and tired that she stopped getting periods.
During Friday’s court appearance, it was revealed that Mack last year married “Battlestar Gallactica” actress and Canadian national Nicki Clyne, who was spotted hiding out in Mexico with Mack and Raniere when authorities tracked down the cult leader last month.
Dressed in a light jean jacket, light brown boots and black pants — and sporting dark circles under her eyes — Mack spoke quietly as she answered Judge Cheryl Pollak’s routine questions.
Pollak declined to release the actress from detention, saying her lawyers failed to offer a “sufficient” bail package given the serious charges. She said they could file a new petition Monday.
Mack’s attorneys argued that she’s not a flight risk because she returned to the US voluntarily from Mexico — but Pollak noted that she may not had been aware she’s facing a minimum of 15 years behind bars at the time.
Prosecutors want a high dollar figure posted by someone with no affiliation to Nxivm — which is bankrolled by the heiresses to the Seagram’s whisky fortune, who are also members — and home detention.
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