Former NXIVM member Sarah Edmondson says she believes Allison Mack regrets her role in sex cult

• Former NXIVM member Sarah Edmondson believes Allison Mack received a fair sentence for her role in the cult.
• She said she believed Mack was not as responsible for abuse as Keith Raniere, and was herself a victim.
• Edmondson told Insider while Mack should be held accountable, she no longer feels angry with the actress.

A survivor of the NXIVM cult told Insider that top official Allison Mack received an appropriate sentence for her role in the group after expressing regret for her actions.

Mack, a former actress most widely known for her role in "Smallville," was sentenced Wednesday to three years in prison for recruiting women to join the Albany, New York-based cult to act as sex slaves for its leader, Keith Raniere.

Former NXIVM member Sarah Edmondson said that unlike Raniere, who was sentenced to 120 years in prison for his role in the cult, Mack has apologized for her actions. Mack wrote a letter to NXIVM survivors days before her sentencing in which she called her role in the cult her "greatest regret."

"It is now of paramount importance for me to say, from the bottom of my heart, I am so sorry," Mack, 38, wrote.

Edmondson told Insider that Mack needed to be held accountable for her role in NXIVM, but she also believes Mack was a victim. Neither Raniere or top-ranking NXIVM member Clare Bronfman showed any remorse for their actions, Edmondson noted.

"The fact is that Alison appears to have woken up. It appears that she's out of that mindset, which is very different than Keith and Claire who were not remorseful and take no responsibility," Edmondson told Insider. "I think the judge really acknowledged that, and I actually think that his sentence is fair."

Edmondson, who wrote a book, "Scarred," about her experience with NXIVM, was a member of the group run by Raniere for 15 years. Like many cults, NXIVM was marketed as a self-help group where members would learn to better themselves; over time, former members say they were subjected to abusive mind control and manipulation tactics.

Edmondson left NXIVM was after she was recruited to DOS, a secret sorority within the group, and was pressured into getting a brand that she later realized bore Raniere's initials.

"Figuring out that the symbol was not a symbol for the elements, but actually his initials, was the biggest wake up call," she said.

Edmondson said she spent thousands of dollars on oils, creams, and treatments to try and remove the brand, but it was still visible. She said she eventually had it surgically removed.

Today, Edmondson and her husband, Anthony "Nippy" Ames - also a survivor of the group - host a podcast called A Little Bit Culty, where they talk to former members of abusive cults and share advice on how to heal. On Wednesday, Edmondson chose not to go to Mack's sentencing hearing, instead enjoying a family vacation with Ames and their two young children.

Edmondson recalled Mack as being generous and kind, and said she considered her a close friend during her time in the cult. She said she wouldn't be opposed to reconnecting with Mack down the line.

"I really wish [Mack] and her family peace and healing. I'm devastated that it came to this," Edmondson said. "Forgiveness is a weird thing because I do think she needs to be held accountable, but I don't have any anger in my heart."