Thread by @RobertGavinTU

The first victim speaking Tuesday was 15 when Raniere first had sex w/her.

"As for the man I am here to speak about," she said, "I will not say his name. I will only call him 'he.' He doesn't deserve anything more than that. I don't want to allow his name back into my life."

She continued: "I understand there are charges in this case that concern me, and that my name has been mentioned repeatedly throughout the trial. But I was not here, and my voice was not heard."

#NXIVM

"The man you are about to sentence had a deep impact on my life that I am not sure I can fully quantify or qualify. It has taken a long time for me to process the trauma caused by his attempt s to control my mind and my world, and his efforts to replace my voice with his own."

She continued: "He screwed with my mind for so long that finding the strength and clarity to tell my story has been a slow and difficult journey. And I still have a long road ahead."

The woman, now 30, continued: "But as I heal, I remember that I am someone's daughter, sister, and friend. And if my daughter, sister, or friend lived through the experiences that he subjected me to, I would find it absolutely unacceptable."

"He wanted me to believe that my only value came from how he felt about me. I now realize I am stronger than he ever allowed me to think I was. He tried to control me because he knew that the knowledge I had about him- and his actions towards me-made him vulnerable."

#NXIVM

Underage victim, now 30, on Raniere: "I met him when I was just 13. From the start, I did not feel comfortable around him. I would even try to avoid being in the same room as him, but the adults around me would get upset at me for being 'rude' and push me back towards him."

"This felt like a violation of what I
wanted and what my gut was warning me."

"The first time I was left to have a conversation alone with him we talked about how I had placed 2nd in my 8th grade Spelling Bee contest. I continued to avoid him after that for some time but years later he told me he knew I was 'special, from the time he first met me at 13.'"

Victim on Keith Raniere: "He first had sex with me on September 18, 2005. He would expect me to celebrate September 18th as our anniversary every year. That first time, I was 15. He was 45."

#NXIVM #KeithRaniere