Part #2: Judge Garaufis on Sentencing Raniere to 120 Years: ‘Abuse Inflicted Unimaginable Trauma and Damage’ on Daniela and Camila

In the previous post, Judge Nicholas G. Garaufis’ sentencing memorandum was published. In it, he explains how and why he came up with a sentence for Keith Raniere of 120 years.

From that post, I removed a section on Camila and Daniela because I wanted it to stand alone. It clearly gives the viewpoint of the judge on these two victims and how he felt about them and Raniere. These two sisters may have accounted for decades of additional prison time for Raniere.

By Judge Nicholas G. Garaufis

From his sentencing memorandum.

The evidence before me makes clear that Mr. Raniere’s conduct was particularly egregious because he targeted and exploited girls and young women. He continued this abuse over the course of many years. And his abuse inflicted unimaginable trauma and damage on his victims.

Take, for instance, his sexual exploitation of Camila (Jane Doe 2). Mr. Raniere first met Camila when she was 13 years old. In their first conversation alone, they spoke about how Camila had just placed second in her eighth grade spelling bee contest….  Mr. Raniere began a sexual relationship with Camila two years later, when he was 45 and she was 15….

He took naked pictures of 15-year-old Camila, something she describes as being “seared into my memory.”… Years after they met, Mr. Raniere told Camila he knew she was “special” ever since they first met each other when she was 13….

Mr. Raniere exerted control over this child in every way imaginable. As she puts it, “[h]e used my innocence to do whatever he wanted with me – not just sexually but also psychologically. He manipulated me into what he wanted, for his own reasons [and] for his own pleasure.”…

Mr. Raniere directed Camila to overstay her visa, thereby giving him additional leverage over her, and he put her up in an apartment where he would, “come  in the house, have sex, and leave.” …  He controlled and manipulated her in every way. He told her he needed a ”vow of absolute obedience,” and that she had “to be happy whenever you are with me because my time means that much.”…

[This is from texts messages between Camila and Raniere read at trial.]

In one message, Mr. Raniere wrote her:

“If you want me to come tonight, I will under these conditions: there will be no talking. You will meet me at the door in the outfit you think I would find sexiest. You will arouse me, we will make love for my satisfaction and pleasure. You will do everything you can to provide that. I will finish and leave. Do you agree yes or no?”

When Camila had a relationship with another man, Mr. Raniere “punished [her] emotionally, psychologically, and sexually.”

He branded her.

As Camila tells the court:

“I hold scars on my body from him that can never be erased. They carry immense emotional and psychological pain. They are a reminder of his cruelty and manipulation. He knew exactly what he was doing, even asking me at some point if having his initials on my body would keep me from being with other people. He drew pleasure from knowing he had marked me. I was his. Even when I got a tattoo to cover his mark, it was not enough to disguise the pain and shame it reminds me of.”

Mr. Raniere’s abuse of Camila was cruel to the point of inhumane. He made her ask his permission for almost everything, including to contact her family and to cut her hair….

At one point, Camila messaged Raniere, “I feel like I have a gun pointed at me and I’m [] just trying to say what you want to hear so you won’t shoot but I don’t know what it is you want to hear.”…

Simply put, the harm he inflicted  upon her is incalculable.

Mr. Raniere had many other victims. Mr. Raniere, along with others, trafficked Daniela (Jane Doe 4) into the United States, and she began working for Raniere.

Mr. Raniere initiated a sexual relationship with Daniela when she was 18 years old. As he did with many of the girls and women he had sexual relationships with, Mr. Raniere instructed Daniela to keep their relationship a secret.

When Daniela developed feelings for another man, Mr. Raniere told her parents that she had committed an “ethical breach.”…

To punish Daniela, Mr. Raniere ordered that she be confined to a room in her parents’ home without human contact.

At Mr. Raniere’s instruction, Lauren Salzman, one of the “First Line” DOS members, threatened Daniela that if she left the room, she would be sent to Mexico without any identification documents….

Like his treatment of Camila, Mr. Raniere’s treatment of Daniela was particularly cruel because of the psychological harm he inflicted on her at such a young age. Forced to remain in her room for months and months on end, Daniela testified that one of the worst aspects of her kidnapping was the feeling that, “I’m in a world where nobody cares that  I’m losing my life,” and thinking that “it was clearly never [going to] end.”…

It is necessary for me to mention at this juncture a letter submitted in support of Mr. Raniere that I received from Hector, the father of Daniela and Camila.

[l] Hector F, the father of Camila and Daniela, still a staunch supporter of Keith Raniere [r]. Hector holds his grandson, the son of his eldest daughter, Marianna, and Raniere.
I am frankly baffled why anyone thought this letter would help Mr. Raniere. In the letter, Mr. [name redacted even though the judge named Hector’s last name in court]  waxes nostalgic about how Mr. Raniere helped him run a marathon, before turning to slandering his own daughter, Daniela, calling her a liar and a thief, and implying she had no one but herself to blame for what happened to her.

Let me be clear: I find Mr. F. [redacted]’s letter, in support of the man who abused his own daughters, a disgrace.

And, to Daniela, who is here today in the courtroom, let me also be clear: what happened to you is not your fault, and I am deeply impressed with your courage and resilience. And that goes for all the victims who have spoken today, either in-person or by video or audio.

About the author

Frank Parlato

18 Comments

Click here to post a comment

Please leave a comment: Your opinion is important to us! (Email & username are optional)

  • Former Federal Prosecutor finds that Joe Biden violated the same racketeering RICO law that Keith Raniere violated.
    CENSORED: Here Are The Crimes They Are Hiding From You | Rudy Giuliani

    • Why have you twisted these comments sections to further your own political agenda? You are not adding anything, and frankly, never have.

  • This judge is so sensible. The father’s letter discrediting his daughter is indeed a “disgrace”. KR persuaded men and women that women are trouble, unreliable, liars – problems who need to be fixed (all wrong – instead some men and women are those things and some not).

  • IS there any way to determine if someone is ‘managing’ the press…….the way after two months of quiet…suddenly on the day of Raniere’s sentencing…..’…………the press is covering the Louisville injustice……..and still following………so your victory is being dimmed to the public……..

  • When I hear Nancy Salzman intervened in this horrific abuse that was going on with this family under her nose (and with her tacit or otherwise decree), I will have compassion for her. To date, there is no public indication that the Queen of Exploration of Meaning admits that she was actively complicit or, more importantly,*pretended not to know*.

    It is a pattern of behavior with Dear Prefect. Either that or, embarrassingly, she is a total fraud.

  • Hi, Frank. Thank you for reporting on this. This was very moving to read. I really liked that the judge validated Daniela.
    Thank you for not sharing pictures or last names of victims.
    Great reporting.

    Congratulations for everything. This is all very inspiring.

  • Frank,

    Please publish the letter from Mr. F.

    —Let me be clear: I find Mr. F. [redacted]’s letter, in support of the man who abused his own daughters, a disgrace.

        • What a bunch of white knight garbage. “Raniere’s crimes are especially egregious because he targeted girls and young women.” So, boys and young men, not such a big deal?

          This was the judge’s attitude throughout the trial. He stopped.the trial cause Lauren Salzman was CRYING. Crying. “I’m a judge but I’m a human being first”

          Would.he stop things if Raniere was Crying? Hell no.

          I can’t stand Raniere, but I also can’t stand the so-called “victims”, the judge or the prosecutor.

          We’re paying the price for the endless infantilizing of women. Birth rates and marriage rates are at century lows.

          • [redacted] Did Raniere target boys and young men? Or did he particularly target girls and young women?

  • Thank you for highlighting the voices of such reluctant, painful experience with an article like this. It means more than words can ever say.

About the Author

Frank Parlato is an investigative journalist.

His work has been cited in hundreds of news outlets, like The New York Times, The Daily Mail, VICE News, CBS News, Fox News, New York Post, New York Daily News, Oxygen, Rolling Stone, People Magazine, The Sun, The Times of London, CBS Inside Edition, among many others in all five continents.

His work to expose and take down NXIVM is featured in books like “Captive” by Catherine Oxenberg, “Scarred” by Sarah Edmonson, “The Program” by Toni Natalie, and “NXIVM. La Secta Que Sedujo al Poder en México” by Juan Alberto Vasquez.

Parlato has been prominently featured on HBO’s docuseries “The Vow” and was the lead investigator and coordinating producer for Investigation Discovery’s “The Lost Women of NXIVM.” In addition, he was credited in the Starz docuseries 'Seduced' for saving 'slave' women from being branded and escaping the sex-slave cult known as DOS.

Parlato appeared on the Nancy Grace Show, Beyond the Headlines with Gretchen Carlson, Dr. Oz, American Greed, Dateline NBC, and NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt, where Parlato conducted the first-ever interview with Keith Raniere after his arrest. This was ironic, as many credit Parlato as one of the primary architects of his arrest and the cratering of the cult he founded.

Parlato is a consulting producer and appears in TNT's The Heiress and the Sex Cult, which premieres on May 22, 2022.

IMDb — Frank Parlato

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Parlato,_Jr.

Contact Frank with tips or for help.
Phone / Text: (305) 783-7083
Email: frankparlato@gmail.com

Archives