An intelligent and logic-based commenter, who we call Suzanne, wrote about Camila and why it is nonsense to question the FBI on this issue of tampering.
By Suzanne
You don’t think the authorities showed Camilla the pictures and asked her to identify them as herself at 15? For verification?
And Camilla already said that those are photos Keith took of her when she was 15. In court. Publicly.
Eloquently, Camilla said that sexual exploitation from a child predator is something that she could never forget. Sealed into her brain.
With which probably any 15-year-old virgin who came from the kind of background Camilla did would agree.
“The virgin Camilla” as Keith lived to refer to her – was very inexperienced.
Girls don’t just forget at that tender age when they have virtually no experience that some old man is taking pictures of them in extremely explicit, revealing and humiliating poses.
That would be highly traumatizing and a very new and invasive experience and that is not a crime a young girl would misremember.
Also, medical records back up that Keith was sexually exploiting Camilla because he is listed as her only sexual partner and the origin date is at 15 years old.
The texts from Keith verify 15 years old as the date he started sexually abusing Camilla.
Elizabeth Butler, a nurse practitioner who worked at the clinic that provided an abortion to Camila, testified at the trial of Keith Raniere. She gave the date of Camila’s abortion as October 12, 2010, when Camila was 20. Based on medical forms she filled out, Camila said she was sexually active since she was 15.
There is no way the prosecution would have gone forth with that charge of pornography of a child without extensive cross-referencing and finding corroborating evidence.
That would include multiple statements and questioning of Camilla. Many people who were vetted and interviewed for the trial did not end up testifying (an example would be India).
Just because Camilla did not testify in that trial really has no bearing on how much corroborating evidence and testimony and interviews were done to verify Camilla’s truth.
There are multiple reasons prosecutors decide not to bring forth a witness and sometimes it’s not to further traumatize a victim.
Especially when the human was victimized as a minor child.
There could be other reasons Camilla wasn’t brought to testify.
But you can flip around what you said. The defense absolutely had the opportunity to subpoena Camilla and force her to testify or make a statement and they chose not to.
And there’s only one reason they would have done that. Because the defense knew those photos were of Camilla. They knew Keith took them. And they knew Camilla was 15 in the porn photos.
And the defense knew that if Camilla testified Keith was sunk right then and there.
So that was a tactical decision the defense made and are now trying to play it as some kind of thing that was nefariously done to them as opposed to a decision they actively participated in.
Nobody called Camila, nobody subpoenaed her and that’s the way the case went. It’s not always for nefarious reasons or a conspiracy.
This marks the end of Suzanne’s comments.
Now, going forward, begins my comments, just in case anybody is confused:
FR comments starts here and Suzanne’s comments are done.
By Frank
To clarify a few things. I do not think the US Attorney’s Office showed Camila the pictures used to convict Raniere. I do not think she identified them.
Of course, they could ask her to identify them. That would end 99 percent of the efforts of the pro-Raniere forces, especially if she said it under oath, subject to cross-examination.
She said Raniere took photos of her when she was 15. But she did not identify what photos they were. I am waiting for her to identify the photos used as evidence. Neither she nor her sister, Daniela, nor Lauren Salman identified the images. An FBI agent did.
I believe Raniere took photos of Camila when she was 15. I have doubts about the evidence. Maybe the FBI thought he was guilty, but did not have the evidence, and they planted it or changed the metadata. Or both.
Camila could identify the photos under oath. And if she saw the pictures, she never said she did. She has not backed the FBI by saying Raniere took the pictures used as evidence when she was 15.
Text from Raniere to Camila: Sept. 4, 2014; 1:32 am: “It is such a painful, bittersweet thing… The truth of our life together that could have been made real yet now us forever a secret and nullified… I love you so much… I am so proud to have been your husband for 8.75 years… And shared a home for 4… Yet I am also so heartbroken.”
The prosecution used this text to prove he started a sexual relationship with Camila when she was 15. and Raniere was 45.
What About Texts?
The texts between Raniere and Camila suggest he started a sexual relationship when she was 15 or 16. But the texts do not prove the authenticity of the photos.
But She Said He Had Sex With Her When She Was 15
If he raped her, it means nothing in federal court. Statutory rape is a state offense.
The government charged Raniere with child porn and sexual exploitation of a minor. They alleged he took photos of Camila with a Canon camera on November 2 and November 24, 2005.
That’s my focus. Not whether Raniere committed statutory rape in 2005. Or if he took photos of Camila when she was 15. He probably did.
Did he take the photos used in evidence on November 2 and November 24, 2005 — the dates the FBI says the metadata shows?
Did the FBI alter the metadata? Again, the question is not whether Raniere abused Camila. He did abuse her, I am sure. The focus is on FBI conduct. Not Raniere’s conduct.
Because he is guilty, the FBI does not have the right to concoct evidence to prove his guilt.
The prosecution moved forward without Camila. That is clear. She did not confirm before or during the trial that Raniere took photos of her. She came forward after the trial was over, in time for inclusion on the list of victims and collecting $500,000. She came forward at the 11th hour. Another day’s delay would have cost her half a million.
The government could have compelled Camila to testify, but they chose not to call her as a witness. They knew where she was. They interviewed her in Mexico.
The DOJ had no trouble rousting Raniere from Mexico — overnight.
A trial that focused on Camila without the main witness?
This matter is not about texts, gynecological reports, abortions, or anything else. This is not about whether Raniere raped and photographed this woman when she was a girl. The focus is on the method the FBI used to prove it.
Do you think law enforcement should cheat because they “know” a guy is guilty?
A defendant has the right to confront his accuser. Camila did not accuse him until after his conviction. The DOJ chose not to call her. It was not up to the defense to call Camila. The defense could not force her to testify. The prosecution could force her. They did not want Camila at the trial. Maybe Raniere’s defense team did not want her either.
But the burden of proof is on the government.
The photos are most likely of Camila. But the FBI may have altered the metadata. The FBI “knew” Keith took them. They “knew” Camilla was 15 in the porn photos. And maybe they needed to prove it any way they could. Even by cheating.
And maybe the defense knew that if Camilla testified, Keith was sunk.
So why didn’t the prosecution call Camila and sink the varmint?
The government withheld forensic data from the defense and changed metadata. That is suspicious. Much of that was not found until after the trial. There is enough suspicious stuff to warrant an evidentiary hearing.
Lead prosecutor, AUSA Moira Kim Penza
The lead prosecutor said the child porn charges are “the heart” of the racketeering conspiracy. She also said Camila was involved in every aspect of the case. The most significant person in the case. Due process and justice require the main victim to be heard.
Even though Raniere is likely guilty, I do not want law enforcement to decide that and then create evidence. I want a jury to decide with all the true evidence.
It is difficult to explain. People think if a guy is guilty, it does not matter if law enforcement cheats. That’s a recipe for disaster.
Maybe they did not cheat
But what harm in making sure? If the government did not cheat, then Raniere sinks forever. And the poor fools who follow him will have nothing to hope for, wish for or believe in. They will move on and start a Raniere-free life.
And on the odd chance the FBI cheated, it would be wise to nip that in the bud.
So before some rabid commenters get upset, let me say that I 100 percent believe Raniere abused Camila when she was 15. However, I wonder if the FBI proved it fair and square.
I also doubt that even if the FBI cheated to convict Raniere, he would roam free. A new trial will prove unsuccessful for Raniere, and he will remain where he is – in custody – for the rest of his life.
So this is my position. It puts me in the unenviable position of upsetting Raniere haters and Raniere lovers.
Raniere lovers dislike me for saying he abused Camila. They live in a fools’ paradise, thinking their man is innocent. He is not. He abused Camila for years – starting when she was a child.
His supporters have Raniere derangement disorder. It makes them blind.
And Raniere haters think I sold out to Raniere supporters, just because I share their doubts about the FBI. Even pointing out that the FBI could cheat to convict a dirtbag disturbs them. They have Raniere derangement disorder. It makes them blind.
It blinds them and they cannot consider that if the FBI cheats to convict dirtbags, they can cheat the innocent.
MK10ART’s painting of Keith Alan Raniere where he presently resides.
They have to turn a blind eye to anything that does not support Raniere being evil. There can only be good and evil. And anyone who hurts Raniere is good, even if they cheat.
And they have to hate anyone who might ever say that anyone who hurt Raniere might not be 100 percent good.
The derangement cuts both ways.
And if I may, I think Raniere is deranged as well. Thinking he is going to get out of prison. He is sunk and time will pass, and he will be forgotten, and all his deeds washed away by the sands of time. And no one will care whether he or the FBI cheated or if anyone cared. His day is done.
