Clare Webb Bronfman was sentenced to six years and nine months in prison on Sept. 30, 2020. Her sentence was actually triple the upper-end of the applicable sentencing guidelines for her two felony convictions. Part of what may have impacted the harsh sentence for the Seagram’s heiress was the statements of nine victims who appeared at the sentencing hearing.
Some appeared live and others by video.
Frank Report has previously published the victim statements that Ivy Nevares and Susan Dones made at the hearing.
Today we are publishing Sarah Edmondson’s statement. She appeared by video and hers was the first victim the court heard from at the sentencing hearing.
Here is Sarah Edmondson’s statement:
Hi there. My name is Sarah Edmondson, and I have known Clare Bronfman for the entire 12 years that I was involved in NXVIM.
I’m here today because I want to reiterate something that’s very important.
When I came forward with what had happened to me, Clare did not call me, as you may expect a friend or a compatriot in a so-called humanitarian organization might.
Instead, she flew to Vancouver and used her connections and her resources and her Bronfman name to work with the VPD, the Vancouver Police Department, to try to get me arrested on completely trumped-up charges.
This was probably one of the most scary moments of my entire life.
Thank God it was proven very quickly that this was completely made up. And the $12,000 it cost me to hire a criminal defense lawyer to protect myself is one thing, but the stress and the trauma that that did to me and my entire family is irreparable.
Never mind on top of that, the lies that she told the community, people who came to our wedding, that I was a thief, that I was a criminal, people who still to this day do not talk to me because they believe those lies.
The thing that concerns me the most is that at this point, as far as I know, Clare Bronfman does not renounce Keith Raniere and the fact that she thinks that he is a good man and is still willing to vouch for him.
I’m always going to be looking over my shoulder, if that’s the case, because as soon as she gets out prison, she will use her money to continue to attack people, to continue to use her money as a weapon.
Keith and Clare, neither of these people are humanitarians. If Clare was truly a humanitarian as she claimed to be, she would be looking to see how all of these women, all of the victims, how their stories were true, instead of trying to attack them and destroy them.
Please keep in mind that if Clare Bronfman had her way, I would be in prison right now, that I would be in prison and that my children would not have a mother with them to raise them.
That’s what would happen if Clare Bronfman had her way. Please keep this in mind.
Thank you very much for your time.
Frank Parlato 
Janine Morrison 
J.J. O'Hara 
Richard Luthmann 
Marie White 
Paul Serran
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That’s a chilling statement on the reality for everyone speaking up. It’s a good thing she knew what can happen, as she benefited from that very situation when it happened to Susan Dones. She finally did do something ethical and I’m glad she did. I do feel bad for her, but like Mark, she made ethical compromises, or as she said, dismissed them, over the course of many years out of self interest. The two of them didn’t believe stories about the others before them, until it happened to them.
The example she used to describe how Clare is not a humanitarian, would have been evident in the end of the Washington branch.
An aside that might be related. Did Sarah participate in the fright experiments before being selected for DOS? I read, not sure where, that the fright experiences were one way to evaluate adaptability for DOS?
Transactional-
I completely agree with your first paragraph.
There are plenty of people on earth who have had mothers or fathers, or both at once, who were or still are abusive. You start figuring out how to survive or how to kill yourself FAST, with a parent who is fucked up enough to be an abuser.
People following Raniere hooked themselves up with a tricky abuser. They have allowed him to become their only thinker.
Sarah kept it simple and direct, with what she said to the court. Despite the content of what she said, there is no wah wah wah in it. No feel sorry for me.
Like most loving mamas, her main expression of deepest concern here is for her children. Those children, her babies, could’ve lost her.
Sarah, please. Don’t get me crying again. Love is all.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PjIxXGuVCG4
Jason Bermas reports and credits Frank Report
I had never thought about the prospect of these people still looking over their shoulders when she is released. I wonder if this was actually the true aim of her statement and planned by KR to continue to keep people living in fear regardless of whether the threat is real or not.
I would assume that there is still enough NXIVM influence in Mexico to make travel South of the Rio Grande inadvisable for many NXIVM critics and dissidents.
Shadowstate,
You are 100% correct. No more partying in Cancun for the editors and staff of the Frank Report.
Wow, I love Sarah Edmonton. The fact that when she realized what was really going on, she tried to stop it and get the people out that she was responsible for recruiting, says a lot about her. Anyone, that believes the lies they spread about you Sarah, you don’t need them in your life! You are a good person and a good mother, that’s all that matters!
[redacted]
Sarah Edmondson did not only find out about bad things in March 2017 after getting her pussy branded. She spent twelve years there. Only when she was personally affected did she leave.
How many people did the right things years before Sarah Edmondson started pretending to be the good guy? How many people defected years ago because of what they knew about the cult. In 2012, many defected after the Times Union expose. Sarah Edmondson watched countless people get sued by Clare Bronfman and have their lives ruined because of their cult. When she gets affected, all of a sudden, “You are so brave, Sarah!” Other people tried to expose the cult and Sarah Edmondson watched them come under attack, while still coaching, recruiting and conning.
Fuck all NXIVM morons.
Are you shocked that the vast majority of people don’t get involved in a David vs. Goliath story (or something like that a lesser level) until they are personally affected? Frank didn’t get involved either until the same thing happened to him. Frank earned more in less than a year of work for NXIVM than the vast majority of participants in NXIVM did. So, if you’re going to criticize Sarah for finally standing up for and fighting against a monster only when they’re personally affected, you’re going to have to do the same to the owner of this website because it’s an analogous situation.
Okay.
FRANK!!! How dare you be a publicist for NXIVM for a year!
How dare you fight back against their lawsuit terrorism after finding out they were criminals!
How dare you spend years trying to bring down the pedophile cult!
——
Happy, you big wet blouse?
As for Frank Parlato, there was less out there about nxiscum then there was after he came under attack and started to fight back. He was also not a nxiscum member, only a publicist for a year. Don’t know if he ever did a faggy “intensive”. Certainly was not a coach.
Sarah Edmondson spent twelve years ignoring everything. She was a student, coach, recruiter (2000 recruits), center founder, lots of dollars conning people and very jewish. She gets her ass kissed. Frank doesn’t. Absolutely zero comparison.
——
Curious as to whether you are Sarah Edmondson, an associate of hers, or someone who has an interest in another nxiscum member who too can be criticised for the same things Edmondson is criticised for…
You also did not answer the questions because you can’t.
Be gone. 🖕
Almost everyone thought they were in a self-help organization that was making a positive impact on the world.
Keith compartmentalized everything. Most people had no clue about the bad shit. The negative press was explained away. Hell, they were explaining away the negative press when I was there, and there had been zero negative press. They (Keith) were prepping everyone for what was to come.
I give props to the ones who spoke up and speak up as they learn the truth. I hold disgust/pity for those who learned the truth but were too scared to speak up and help. There is nothing wrong with pivoting and trying to help. There is something wrong with silently pivoting and turtling.
I made a comment that essentially said the same thing and it wasn’t approved.
“Almost everyone thought they were in a self-help organization that was making a positive impact on the world”.
That is sad. People who try to make a “positive impact on the world” are ALWAYS cunts of the highest order. They just spread toxicity and annoy people.
*****
“Keith compartmentalized everything. Most people had no clue about the bad shit.”
Sarah [redacted] is not “most people”.
*****
“The negative press was explained away.”
Choose to ignore as you will. Free choice.
*****
“Hell, they were explaining away the negative press when I was there, and there had been zero negative press.”
No excuse when there is tons of information out there, which eventually there was. How long were you there for? Were you a coach? When and why did you leave?
*****
“They (Keith) were prepping everyone for what was to come.”
People were warned. Many ignored.
*****
“I give props to the ones who spoke up and speak up as they learn the truth”.
There were tons who learnt things and spoke out. They were fucked in court. Many chose to ignore that, or even agreed with it. Obviously, Sarah Edmondson did. [redacted]
*****
“I hold disgust/pity for those who learned the truth but were too scared to speak up and help.”
Like Kristin Kreuk? She helped build the cult, yet felt absolutely zero moral responsibility to use that same fame to at least try and expose the BS, even when asked to by at least two individuals who were involved with the takedown. Another shit creature.
*****
“There is nothing wrong with pivoting and trying to help.”
No there is not, indeed. There is though when you ignore, ignore, participate, ignore, participate, suck dick, participate, con, ignore….. then swoop in like [redacted] super girl and play the victim-hero card… and still profiting. [redacted]
*****
“There is something wrong with silently pivoting and turtling”.
There is something very wrong when you spend years being a con artist, watching God-knows how many people get fucked by NXIFAG after they had exposed the cult, then claiming all the glory at the last minute.
I did not take a single Nxivm class.
I believe Nutjob is 100% correct.
********************
I also believe NutJob is an unapologetic Yankees fan and, therefore, should spend at least an extra 3 years in purgatory; being yelled at by Billy Martin while being farted on by George Steinbrenner.
First, and most importantly – FUCK THE YANKEES! If they win tonight, I’ll be Crybaby Jane.
To: To Nutjob – I was there at the beginning and wasn’t there long. Never signed anyone up, so no to being a coach. I saw enough to run, not walk away.
I get your points. I don’t know enough about Sarah to defend her or pile on her. I do think that the FR comment section has done an interesting job of berating and often chasing off every ex-NX person who has participated on FR, tried to provide information, and tried to help.
What do you mean by this? “There were tons who learnt things and spoke out. They were fucked in court. Many chose to ignore that, or even agreed with it. Obviously, Sarah Edmondson did.”
Happy, you big wet blouse?
Don’t you mean Louse?🖕
You said it yourself, Frank was employed less than a year, spoke up, and became the newest enemy. Less than a year. Not 10 years or 12 years. He didn’t sit at Keith’s feet and listen to him extol the virtues of child rape. He also did a lot behind the scenes to help members and former members. Not because he recruited them and needed to clean up his mess.
It’s a false equivalency and a deflection. Sarah’s actions can stand on their own without comparison, because that’s not how we measure ethics, as a standard within a criminal enterprise.
We can compare her to other long-term, high ranking members and center owners. Susan Dones would be a good example to compare her to. She’s also a good example of that “David vs Goliath” scenario you mentioned and that circumstance is directly tied to why Sarah and Mark had a center in Vancouver. Sarah didn’t believe Susan Dones. Sarah watched the ethical humanitarian efforts of a “David vs Goliath” litigation happen to someone else, while she was building her recruits off of Susan’s work in the region.
Sarah has told us on camera about the things she dismissed and didn’t agree with, but kept participating and recruiting.
What did Susan Dones do when faced with the same circumstances? The answer to that is all over this blog. She also lost a business, but it was Sarah who reaped the rewards of that.
Sarah addresses the actions of Clare in response to the branding story. She states that Clare’s response was not that of a humanitarian when news of branding broke in the media.
Upon reading that, my first thought was whether she thought she was being a humanitarian when the same was happening to others. If she applied that very same accusation to herself. Do you think she called Susan to see if she was ok?
No, it’s not a false equivalency. The point was about speaking up and doing something only when someone is significantly and personally affected. Frank did nothing until several years after he was a part of NXIVM (2006/2007) and Clare Bronfman came after him with trumped-up criminal charges a half-decade later and he had to fight back, the same thing she did to Sarah who then fought back. He didn’t do this with the motivations that a John Tighe or a James Odato did. This is selective memory.
Yes it is a false equivalency, Hussain. Frank spent one year as a publicist, not twelve years as a cult member. He knew Nxivm was shit so left them soon after. Edmondson spent 12 years deep in the cult, ignored everything and would still be there if her vag was not branded. One left, another did not. [redacted]. You are just mad because [redacted] said things about Kreuk.
Who’s Hussain?
I made no case that Frank’s or Sarah’s time or position in the cult was similar or the same, simply that they both fought back against the cult when they were personally affected, like most people would.
Frank left because he was fired, not because he suspected anything evil, wrong, of illegal in the cult happening at that time. He was there in the Albany for far too little time. Like all people who eventually came to cross paths with Raniere, whether justified–like in Frank’s case due to asking too many questions about the missing millions–or not, he eventually was sent packing.
“
Who’s Hussain?
I made no case that Frank’s or Sarah’s time or position in the cult was similar or the same, simply that they both fought back against the cult when they were personally affected, like most people would.
Frank left because he was fired, not because he suspected anything evil, wrong, of illegal in the cult happening at that time. He was there in the Albany for far too little time. Like all people who eventually came to cross paths with Raniere, whether justified–like in Frank’s case due to asking too many questions about the missing millions–or not, he eventually was sent packing.”
This is revisionist desperation to confirm your own bias, that you seem overly emotionally invested in. Why? This can be debunked so why go through the effort?
You don’t seem to understand the difference between writing other peoples stories and going on a publicity tour that glosses over your own actions and accountability.
“What do you mean by this? “There were tons who learned things and spoke out. They were fucked in court. Many chose to ignore that, or even agreed with it. Obviously, Sarah Edmondson did.””
It means people discovered the crimes of NXIVM or simply unethical behavior and got out of there. Some were not even NXIVM members.
The NXIVM 9, John Tighe, Joe O’Hara, Rick Ross, Frank Parlato, John Odato, Barbara Bouchey and it is said countless more that we don’t even know about.
NXIVM people stayed on loyal to the cult, because they believed anyone who Nxivm said was bad, was bad. They may have agreed with the lawsuits against the ‘supressives’.
Sarah Edmondson and Mark Vicente certainly full into this category.
Would be fascinating to hear your stories for the sake of putting this cult on record.
I saw multiple “good” people be run off because Keith labeled them as “bad”. This was before they started using the term ‘suppressive’. They were labeled as a parasite or leveler or a couple of other terms. I saw the pattern and knew it was bullshit. This combined with the material not really benefiting me and wanting to gtf out of Albany, I quietly ejected. Keith hated me and was probably happy for me to leave, but he had someone keep tabs on me for a while. I was close enough to the main players that much of the initial bullshit was not kept from me. This made it easier for me to be clear in my decision making because I dodged much of the compartmentalization.