Raniere’s “joyful” raping of 12-year-old destroyed her childhood, she claims

“He who has the most joy wins,” says Keith Raniere, who prefers to be called Vanguard.

In 2012, the Albany Times Union published a series of articles on Mr. Raniere, which may help explain his teachings about joy.

In one of these [In Raniere’s Shadows], a 33 year-old woman claimed Mr. Raniere enjoyed sexual encounters with her when she was 12.

Mr. Raniere was 30 at the time of the encounters.

The legal age for sexual consent in New York is 17.

The Times Union reported that the girl [whose first name is Rhiannon] was:

 a 12-year-old with feathered bangs and long blond hair …  Her mother was a saleswoman for Raniere’s members-only buying club, Consumers’ Buyline Inc….

The Times Union continues:

When Raniere offered free tutoring, the girl’s mother jumped at the opportunity. At the same time…  one of Raniere’s longtime girlfriends, Pamela Cafritz, hired her to walk a dog twice a day.

The Times Union continues:

Cafritz encouraged the girl’s visits to the townhouse she and Raniere shared with other women. And Raniere showered the girl with attention. She said he urged her to talk about her life. He gave her a necklace — a heart with a stone in it….

[Mr. Raniere] told her she hugged like a child, her arms wrapped around him but her hips pushed away.

He taught her to hug the way adults do, pelvis-to-pelvis.

He took her virginity.

The girl liked being able to hang out with Raniere and the women around him. She thought sex was just part of fitting in.

“They told me I was smart and took an interest in me; they let me spend every afternoon at their house,” she said. “… I was perfect picking… To have someone that mature and that well thought of to be interested in me, it was flattering. I was young, inexperienced, overwhelmed, out of my league.”…

The Times Union continues:

 Raniere [had] sex with her not only in his townhouse but in empty offices, in an elevator and in a broom closet at the plaza that housed Consumers’ Buyline, she said.

But after several months and about 60 sexual encounters with Raniere, she said, her emotions had changed. She started skipping school and running away from home. He lived nearby, and as her uncertainty about the relationship grew, she didn’t feel safe at home.

Defenders of Mr. Raniere say Rhiannon was paid by the Times Union to make up the story.

However, according to a deposition Rhiannon signed in 1993, she told New York State police that she had “sexual intercourse with a man named Keith Raniere” some 19 years before the Times Union story was published .

Rhiannon [then 15] told police the sexual intercourse “occurred when I was approximately 12-13 years old and occurred either at Keith’s townhouse at 3 Flintlock Lane, Clifton NY or his business located at Rome Plaza, Clifton Park, NY.”

The Times Union published a copy of the police report.

Here it is:

The Times Union continues:

[Rhiannon] refused to wear a wire and confront Raniere to capture incriminating statements…

The girl didn’t want to see Raniere again and didn’t think he would fall for a police plan to have her wear a wire…

“He took my innocence,” she said. “I can never get that back.”

The Times Union reports it spoke with Rhiannon’s mother:

Her mother confirms the story….  [Rhiannon] now a mother herself, [is] raising children with her husband in the Capital Region…

A school district document also published in the Times Union provides further evidence that Rhiannon didn’t recently make up the story.

The school document confirms Rhiannon ran away from home, was placed in a detention center for three years, contracted Hodgkins Disease and underwent treatment with radiation and chemotherapy. Rhiannon is one of numerous women who contracted cancer after being enjoyed by Mr. Raniere.

The school report continues:

Frank Report is investigating allegations that Mr. Raniere statutorily raped at least four other girls ages 12-15 between 1990-1993. One girl, who was 14 at the time, told Frank Report that Mr. Raniere – her tutor – had sex with her. [More on this story later].

To summarize:

Mr. Raniere offered to privately tutor Rhiannon who was 12.

At the same time, Mr. Raniere’s roommate, Pam Cafritz, hired Rhiannon to walk her dog.

Rhiannon was statutorily raped some 60 times by Mr. Raniere, she claims.

To enhance his pleasure, he sought out unique and enjoyable locales to statutorily rape Rhiannon, such as broom closets and elevators, as well as in the comfort of his own home.

Rhiannon eventually became disturbed and frightened and ran away from home.

Mr. Raniere continued to enjoy other women and possibly other underaged girls.

Rhiannon was placed in a detention center, contracted blood cancer, received chemo and radiation treatment, and returned home when she was 16. She claimed it took her 20 years to recover from bring statutorily raped by Mr. Raniere.

Mr. Raniere went on to become a teacher of ethics, enjoying sexual encounters with many of his female students. Some of these claim they ran away from him in terror.

“He who has the most joy wins” says Keith Raniere, who prefers to be called by his self-given title of Vanguard.

He seems to have had more joy than Rhiannon. When it comes to joy,  Mr. Raniere is often the winner.

Editor’s Note: If you’re wondering why Raniere wasn’t prosecuted for these numerous statutory rapes, it’s because at the time they occurred, New York State had a statute of limitations concerning all rapes.  Although that limitation has since been removed, it remains in effect for all rapes that occurred prior to the implementation of the new law. 

Frank Parlato