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The document was titled “Twelve-Point Mission Statement” and was written by Keith Raniere, a co-founder of the so-called sex cult Nxivm. It served as a sort of guiding framework within the group and included mantras like “I will not choose to be a victim” and “tribute is a form of payment and honor.” It also asked members “to keep all its information confidential.”

“It’s a fraud, it’s a lie,” an ex-Nxivm member, Mark Vicente, said about the document during his testimony on Thursday in Mr. Raniere’s sex trafficking and racketeering trial in Federal District Court in Brooklyn. “This well-intentioned veneer covers a horrible evil.”

Mr. Raniere, 58, co-founded Nxivm (pronounced Nex-e-um) in the 1990s as a self-help organization. About 16,000 people took Nxivm courses, with some paying tens of thousands of dollars.

He has been indicted on charges including racketeering conspiracy, extortion, forced labor and sex trafficking. Over the last several weeks, five women — including Allison Mack, an actress known for her role in the television series “Smallville” — who were charged alongside him have pleaded guilty.