NEW YORK—Former self-help guru Keith Raniere goes on trial on May 7 on charges of running a secretive New York cult that recruited female “slaves” who were then starved, branded with his initials, and blackmailed into having sex with him.
Federal prosecutors have charged Raniere, 58, with using his cultlike Nxivm group, which claimed to offer members unique insights into life, as a front for crimes including sex trafficking, child pornography, and sexual exploitation of a minor.
