Article content

NEW YORK — An heiress pleaded guilty on Friday in a sensational case accusing a cult-like upstate New York group of creating a secret harem of sex slaves for the group’s self-anointed spiritual leader.

Clare Bronfman admitted in her plea in federal court in Brooklyn that she harboured someone who was living in the U.S. illegally for unpaid “labour and services” and that she committed credit card fraud on behalf of Keith Raniere, the lead of a group called NXIVM.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or Heiress pleads guilty in NXIVM sex slave case Back to video

Bronfman – the 40-year-old daughter of the late billionaire philanthropist and former Seagram chairman Edgar Bronfman Sr. – told the judge that she had wanted to help people through NXIVM but ended up dishonouring her family.

“Your honour, I was afforded a great gift by my grandfather and father,” Bronfman said. “With the gift, comes immense privilege and more importantly, tremendous responsibility. It does not come with an ability to break the law.”