A prosecutor said Larry Ray used psychological abuse, threats and violence to try to control the lives of his victims at Sarah Lawrence College.
(WABNEWS) — The father who lived in his daughter’s room at Sarah Lawrence College has been convicted of sex trafficking, forced labor, tax evasion and money laundering after less than a day of jury deliberations, according to reports. this Wednesday the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York.
“Twelve years ago, Larry Ray moved into her daughter’s room at Sarah Lawrence College,” US Attorney Damian Williams said in a news release. “And when she got there, she met a group of friends who had their whole lives ahead of them.
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For the next decade, he used violence, threats and psychological abuse to try to control and destroy their lives. She blew them up. It terrified them. He tortured them. Let me be very clear. Larry Ray is a predator. An evil man who did evil things.”
Williams thanked the victims who spoke in court, noting that the verdict would not have been possible without their testimony. “We are in awe of the bravery of the victims who faced incredible trauma,” she added.
WABNEWS has contacted Ray’s attorney, Marne Lenox, for comment.
What is the father who lived in the Sarah Lawrence College residence facing? According to the United States Attorney’s Office, Larry Ray, 62, was convicted of: Racketeering Conspiracy Conspiracy to Commit Extortion Extortion Sex Trafficking Obtaining Forced Labor Trafficking Forced Labor Conspiracy to Obtain Forced Labor Violation of the Travel Act Four counts of tax evasion money laundering
Conviction for sex trafficking carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years and a maximum of life in prison.
For years, Ray manipulated and sexually and psychologically abused a group of college students and other victims, according to the Department of Justice.
He extorted victims after getting them to make false confessions about the harm they caused him, his family and his associates, according to the indictment. The victims drained his parents’ savings, opened lines of credit and sold real estate to pay off Ray. He also forced them to do unpaid work and earn money for him through prostitution.
Ray forced a woman to trade sexual acts to pay him damages, money that she did not owe, according to the Prosecutor’s Office. Ray established an emotional bond with her when she was a college student and collected sexually explicit photos and other information to coerce her into more commercial sex acts, prosecutors said.
In one case of Ray’s alleged brutality, he tied the woman to a chair, put a plastic bag over her head and nearly suffocated her, according to the indictment. He collected millions of dollars from the earnings of this victim’s forced prostitution, according to the Prosecutor’s Office.
Prosecutors said in 2020 that the investigation was prompted by the article titled “The Stolen Kids of Sarah Lawrence” which was published in April 2019 in the New York magazine The Cut. The private liberal arts collegeSarah Lawrence College, has about 1,700 students and is located in Yonkers, New York.
With information from Steve Almasy of WABNEWS.
