‘Cult’ Leader Accused of Sexual Abuse at Sarah Lawrence College

Lawrence “Larry” Ray is facing federal charges for sex trafficking, extortion and conspiracy after spending years allegedly psychologically manipulating and abusing college students who were roommates of his own daughter at the prestigious liberal arts college Sarah Lawrence, reports The Guardian. One graduate, Claudia Drury, was forced to prostitute herself to pay the ex-convict Ray $2.5m in compensation for what prosecutors call their imagined crimes against him.

Drury alleged Ray had tortured her for hours, suffocating her with a plastic bag after binding her to a hotel chair. Prosecutors allege Ray created a cult-like criminal enterprise after moving into his daughter’s on-campus dorm in 2011. The US attorney’s office accidentally released an unredacted list of 121 clients from across all walks of life in New York’s social elite, including – allegedly – a retired state judge, a well-known architect, a successful artist and senior financial figures. Ray laundered money through his daughter’s links to North Carolina’s Democratic party. Each of Ray’s alleged victims have testified that their relationship with him started from a place of trust and advanced to romance and then into years of violent sexual abuse. Ray has pleaded not guilty to 16 charges against him, including sex trafficking and violent crime in aid of racketeering.