New details continue to come to light about the alleged sex cult "NXIVM" – almost two years after the successful sex trafficking conviction of its leader, Keith Raniere.

For the first time, India Oxenberg, daughter of Dynasty actress, Catherine Oxenberg, is speaking out about her affiliation with NXIVM. It's a story of survival and motherly devotion. Catherine fought to remove her daughter from the cult, against her daughter's wishes.


What You Need To Know

  • Daughter of “Dynasty” actress Catherine Oxenberg, India Oxenberg was drawn to NXIVM, the self-help group, multi-level marketing company and supposed “sex cult” whose leader, Keith Raniere, was convicted last year of sex trafficking

  • Catherine fought to remove her daughter from the cult, against her daughter's wishes, and helped other people get out as well

  • For 5 years, India says she was groomed  and brainwashed to believe that the people of NXIVM had her best interest

  • India's experiences are revealed in a new four-part docu-series, “Seduced: Inside the NXIVM Cult” 

India and Catherine shared their harrowing experience and the docu-series that has come of it.

Catherine considers herself a lifelong learner, and when she heard about this "self-help" group, she thought it could be a growing experience for her and her daughter.

"I took classes on and off for about a year and a half, but the more classes that I took, the more they started to reveal things that made me uncomfortable. The introduction of misogynistic concepts came later, and the minute that that reared its head, I was out of there," said Catherine Oxenberg.

On the other hand, India decided to stay and did not have the same concerns as her mother.

"I had been in that group for most of my 20s, and those were my friends. I believed this group wholeheartedly for a very long time. And it wasn't until I left Albany and was able to extract myself physically from that area and those people that I was able to have a moment to think for myself. That took a lot longer than I wished it had," said India Oxenberg.

For five years, India says she was groomed to believe that the people of NXIVM had her best interest.

"That's five years of indoctrination and coercion that I was unaware was happening to me. So, by the time I entered into DOS, I was already too far in. It was too difficult, and I was conditioned, and I was groomed. It was such a difficult thing to reconcile with once I left —that I had been lied to and systematically manipulated," added Oxenberg.

DOS is a sorority within the group that provided sexual favors to the cult leader using blackmail.

It wasn't until April of 2017 that Catherine found out about DOS, and that is when she tried to get her out. However, it was not until after Keith Raniere and Allison Mack were arrested that India reconnected with her mother.

"My mother introduced me to a deprogrammer, and she helped me tremendously. I just really needed somebody to listen to me so I could process what I was going through because my critical thinking had been tampered with, and I had to rebuild that," said India.

 

Catherine tried to reach her daughter for years, but India did not respond since she was brainwashed. But, eventually, Catherine's efforts paid off.

"I had tried so many different strategies. I had to keep escalating. When I realized I couldn't get her out, I had to expose her involvement in the cult, which was so painful as a parent. As a result of media exposure, the government moved in. It was a process, but with every step, I was helping other people get out. But my daughter would not listen to me. The irony and silver lining is that I had to go after the whole organization because she was so stubborn. If she would've said 'yes' from the beginning, Keith Rainiere might still be up and running and exploiting women," Catherine said.