Newly released photos offer a never-before-seen peek into the Fijian island that Seagram’s heiress Clare Bronfman helped buy for accused sex cult leader Keith Raniere.
The photos, shown to jurors Wednesday during the Nxivm head’s sex trafficking trial, show breathtaking vistas, smiling members, and the group’s resort headquarters.
Filmmaker and former Nxian Mark Vicente testified he took the photographs during a May 2014 “intensive,” and sent them to Raniere, Bronfman and fellow member Alex Betancourt.
The snaps were introduced alongside others by Raniere’s defense attorney Marc Agnifilo as he questioned the self-proclaimed whistleblower about his all-expense-paid trips to the island on the alleged cult’s dime.
“I was working the entire time so I didn’t get a chance to enjoy things,” Vicente said.
Another image shows the witness posing with members of the group’s Vancouver center — including “Smallville” actress Kristin Kreuk and DOS member Sarah Edmondson. Edmondson left the group after she was branded with Raniere’s initials in her nether regions with a cauterizing pen.
Jurors also saw photos of Vicente wearing his orange Nxivm sash and posing with Lauren Salzman, who later admitted to coercing one of Raniere’s sex slaves to shut herself in a room for two years after she developed feelings for another man.
Raniere has pleaded not guilty, and his trial continues Thursday.