ALBANY (AP) New York's health officials have revoked a doctor associated with NXIVM, a cult-like group that branded 17 women with initials from Keith Raniere.
A hearing committee of the health department found Danielle Roberts guilty of multiple counts of professional misconduct. She was a member of a secret group of women within NXIVM called DOS, which required that both master and slave take a vow of obedience.
According to this week's decision, many of the counts are due to Roberts using a cauterizing tool to mark KAR on women in their pelvic area without anesthesia to deliberately cause them pain.
These brands were created to symbolise the women's status as sex slaves in the hands of the self-help guru, who is currently imprisoned.
According to the Times-Union of Albany, Roberts broke the rules and used the branding device in a dangerous way on the women.
Roberts' testimony was described by the committee as evasive, defiant and obtuse. Roberts denied being brainwashed but she did not express any real regret. This, according to the hearing committee, represented her distortion of reality and her concern that others might be vulnerable to her future brandings.
Anthony Scher, her attorney, stated Friday that they would likely appeal the decision.
Scher stated that the overwhelming evidence showed that she wasn't practicing medicine. Therefore, the standard for medical practice doesn't apply.
Members of the Upstate New York Organization called Raniere Vanguard. He was the most intelligent man in the world and Raniere was sentenced to 120 years imprisonment last year for racketeering conspiracy.
NXIVM was a group of millionaires and actors who followed NXIVM. They were the subjects of two TV documentary series, HBOs The Vow and Starz' Seduced: Inside NXIVM Cult.
