Larry Ray was recently sentenced to 60 years in prison, following his 2022 federal trial for charges of sex trafficking, extortion, and conspiracy—he was convicted on all counts. The case is truly bizarre and utterly disturbing. In a recent piece written published in Time, author Laura Zornosa summarizes what happened:
In the fall of 2010, eight college sophomores at Sarah Lawrence College were excited to move in together at Slonim Woods Building 9, where each person had a single room. For Talia, Max, Dan, Gabe, Claudia, Juli Ana, Santos, and Isabella (and their friend Raven, who was dating Dan), it was a first real taste of independence.
Talia's father, Larry Ray (born Lawrence Grecco), was about 50-years-old around the time he met his daughter's classmates. He had recently returned from prison and quickly began sleeping over in Slonim Woods—on the couch or in Talia's room—multiple nights a week. He cooked and cleaned, making steak or buying takeout, and so no one really minded his presence.
Almost immediately, Ray began to captivate and ensnare some of the group—Talia, Dan, Claudia, Isabella, Santos, and eventually Santos' sisters, Yalitza and Felicia. For years, they lived together (often in a cramped, one bedroom apartment) as Ray demanded attention, forced labor, money, and sometimes sex acts from them.
In an older (2019) piece, featured in New York Magazine's The Cut, authors Ezra Marcus and James D. Walsh describe the destruction that the victims of his crimes have experienced:
Larry has caused untold devastation in the lives of the people around him. Dozens of people contacted for this story refused to speak on the record for fear of Larry's retribution. For years, he has silenced his victims by intimidating them physically, psychologically, legally, and, when all else fails, by public shaming and harassment. "My intentions are honorable intentions," he says. "It's the way I've lived my life, even through 20 years of this."
If you want to learn more about the case, here are two new resources. The first is a recent podcast from Wondery called "Devil in the Dorm: Inside the Sarah Lawrence Cult." The Wondery website describes the podcast:
In late 2010, a middle-aged man moved into his daughter's college dorm and created what has all the hallmarks of a cult. Over the decade that followed, he extorted millions of dollars from vulnerable young adults through violence, psychological torture, and forced sex work. Actress and Director Elisabeth Rohm narrates Law&Crime's 6-part investigative series, which draws from thousands of pages of transcripts, exhibits, audio files, and video recordings from a federal trial and explores the actions and motives of Larry Ray.
The second is a new docuseries, "Stolen Youth: Inside the Cult at Sarah Lawrence," which Hulu describes this way:
A group of bright Sarah Lawrence College students fall under the dark influence of a friend's father, Larry Ray. With unprecedented access to the survivors who lived with Ray, the film follows the cult from its origins through its still-unfolding aftermath.
