Although women in the group were expected to be monogamous with Mr. Raniere, witnesses have said, he was permitted to have sex with multiple people.

Daniela said she became fascinated with Nxivm in high school after taking one of the group’s classes — called The Mission — in Monterrey, Mexico. The class taught that Mr. Raniere had developed a sophisticated mathematical formula to predict that the world would end within 15 years.

Daniela said she gave up a scholarship to a Swiss school to move to New York State when she was only 16 to help Mr. Raniere and his followers in their purported efforts to end hunger, improve the lot of humanity and stave off the destruction of the planet.

She made the decision even though she had not met the guru-like Mr. Raniere, known to his followers as “Vanguard.” But she had conjured up a mental image based upon descriptions from others.

“He was spoken about a lot and it was with a degree of reverence,” she testified, saying he was looked upon as something like a saint.

With the approval of her parents, who had also taken Nxivm courses, Daniela said she worked directly for Mr. Raniere compiling lengthy digests of dense texts and traveling back and forth between the United States and Mexico to comply with visa requirements.