He faces federal racketeering and sex-trafficking charges.

During the opening statements at his trial, prosecutors said that the women in the D.O.S. society were called “slaves,” and that Mr. Raniere and others pressured them into handing over deeds to their homes, bank account information and their “deepest, darkest secrets.”

With that leverage, prosecutors said, Mr. Raniere then coerced women into sex and enriched himself. One of his victims, they said, was a 15-year-old girl.

[“The defendant said he was a mentor, but he was a predator”: Read more from the “sex cult” trial.]

How were women lured into the secret society?

According to former members interviewed by The Times, Mr. Raniere told recruits that they had to overcome weaknesses common to women: an overemotional nature, a failure to keep promises and an embrace of the role of victim.

Submission and obedience were said to be the solution to achieve those goals, several women said.

[Why did people follow a guru who now stands accused of sex trafficking?]

Ms. Mack, who told a judge last month that she first joined Nxivm to “find purpose,” pleaded guilty to charges related to her role in recruiting women into the secretive D.O.S. group.

It was within this inner group that women were branded.

What is Mr. Raniere’s defense?

Free will.

Mr. Raniere’s lawyer, Marc Agnifilo, said his client was trying to help the members of Nxivm reach their personal goals and had never forced them to do anything against their will.