Jurors at the upcoming trial of accused sex-cult leader Keith Raniere will be permitted to view images of child pornography seized from his upstate New York study, a Brooklyn federal judge has ruled.
Raniere’s lawyers had tried to bar the images from being entered into evidence at trial, arguing that the government’s warrant only applied to on or after Jan. 1, 2015 — and that the images of then-15-year-old Jane Doe 2 were from 2005.
But Judge Nicholas Garaufis ruled otherwise.
“Although the Images were created in 2005, they are within the scope of the … warrant because they are evidence of multiple Subject Offenses involving Raniere that occurred in 2015 or later,” Garaufis wrote.
Raniere is facing various charges, including racketeering conspiracy involving acts of child sexual exploitation and possession of child pornography. He’s accused of running an upstate cult featuring a secret society, called DOS, where women were starved, groomed to have sex with him and branded with his initials.
“The female in the Images allegedly became a DOS slave and the Images share similarities with the collateral provided by other DOS slaves […], so the Images may be relevant to Raniere’s motive, intent, or modus operandi in forming DOS,” Garaufis rules. “Thus, the Images are ‘evidence regarding the formation and structure of DOS,’ which makes them evidence of Subject Offenses (sex trafficking, forced labor, and extortion) occurring in 2015 or later.”
Prosecutors have said they also want to introduce evidence from another woman “Jane Doe X,” who claims she was raped by Raniere when she was 12 and 13. Raniere has denied those accusations.
Garaufis has yet to rule on that motion.