Remember the old thread about the ex-con dad who moved into his daughter’s dorm at Sarah Lawrence & ended up manipulating her roommates and others? Well, he finally got arrested and charged with sex trafficking and extortion. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/11/nyregion/larry-ray-sarah-lawrence-sex.html
Wow, it sure took a loooonnnnnngggggg painful time for those poor families who had their daughters sucked into the sewer!
Finally! I remember that story–he is one creepy and sick guy who preyed upon vulnerable young people. I hope they put him away for a long, long time.
As I recall one or more of his Ds were very helpful in roping in the victims. Wonder if she/they will be added to suits. Pretty sure Sarah Lawrence will be added.
No civil suits are mentioned in the article, just the criminal one.
I hope the families DO sue Sarah Lawrence. IIRC, Sarah Lawrence claimed there was nothing they could do to keep a parent out of his daughter’s living space. Really? I could have just moved into my daughter’s dorm?
As the evidence develops, who knows who will be snared? Sounds like promising lives were ruined.
Of course the U would claim no responsibility, but I’m sure no one has to just take the U at its word.
I do not understand how it was possible for a parent to live in the dorm. I’ll give one example where I know this was not possible…
One summer, my D lived in NYU housing, as a free benefit of a summer job she had through the university (though she also was an NYU student during the school year). That summer, she lived in an apartment style dorm unit and her bedroom accommodated two people, but there was no second person at the time I am describing. Daughter was having her wisdom teeth out (she was never home long enough to do it, and also didn’t do it before college as she started college at age 16). So, I went to stay with her for a few days to help her during her recovery. I had to sign in at the front desk and get a guest pass. A guest was allowed a maximum of just a few days’ stay. There is no way I could have gotten into the dorm past that few days’ stay. I can’t imagine that NYU is the only school that limits the length a guest can stay and sign in at the dorm. Otherwise, someone could end up living in the dorm for free.
Is a “dorm” the same as an on campus apartment? From what I read, it sounds like an 8 person on campus apartment. Would have less supervision and visibility than a typical dorm. It also sounds as if everyone living there (all 8) were OK with it, or were coerced to be so.
I’m not excusing the college at all; I think it is crazy that this happened right under their nose. This cult was developing over a period of years and multiple students were damaged. It even says in the below article that upon graduation, a college administrator said they would be glad to not see that guy (Ray) again…so they had some awareness.
This article has a LOT of detail including the living situation and how it all developed. It does seem plausible that the school never knew he was living there. All of the kids living there were under his spell, and at least one made a report, but then recanted it.
https://www.thecut.com/2019/04/larry-ray-sarah-lawrence-students.html
I didn’t realize it was an on campus apartment which would have less front desk security. If all in the unit were coerced to not report him living there, it’s a bit more plausible, I suppose.
Where were the parents in this mess?
Read the article in post #7. Many of the parents tried to intervene. The students were manipulated by this man to alienate themselves from their families. The parents sought help and were told that nothing could be done since their kids were over 18.
Sociopath, no doubt. It’s too bad life without parole isn’t possible for this man, because he will never change, will never quit victimizing people. Ruining people for life is what makes life interesting for these types of people.
Sarah Lawrence should be expecting lawsuits. Unbelievable that an adult male cannot be removed from an on campus dorm room. Hopefully a life sentence.
The saddest part is that two of the young women were still living with him when he was arrested. Both showed up at the hearing to give him moral support.
Social media to the rescue.
“Hey, creepy Larry moved in to my dorm! Isn’t he great?! [selfie]”
“Wait, what? Dude…”
The ‘dorm’ at SL was, I think, more like a house but located on campus and rent was paid to the university. The university was notified of the problem and did nothing.
What could they have done? They could have expelled and evicted Ray’s daughter because she didn’t follow the rules. They could have confronted Ray and told him he wasn’t allowed on campus (the house was on campus).
The Sarah Lawrence administration definitely needs to rethink their tag line:
(From their home page: https://www.sarahlawrence.edu/ )
“Sarah Lawrence College Connecting passions. Creating futures.”
“Connecting passions. Destroying futures” might be a nice first step from a truth in advertising perspective.
I sometimes hate when colleges say “we can’t do anything, our hands are tied.” or people say “the kids are over 18, they’re adults, so we aren’t going to intervene.” Ugh, clearly some intervention was needed in this situation! Just because people are adults doesn’t mean they don’t need drastic help! And Sarah Lawrence and other colleges do have duty to keep their students safe and make sure all their students have a safe experience.
This man was a good friend of Bernie Kerik, and was his best man at his wedding. Ties to Russia too, and I wouldn’t be surprised if Jeffrey Epstein was in there somewhere, considering their criminal acts.
He was an FBI informant, but it seems like he was using the FBI for cover and not really delivering anything of value. He connected to them through Kerik.
https://www.thecut.com/2019/04/larry-ray-sarah-lawrence-students.html
Yes, the university should have done more but so should the parents and students themselves. If an ex-con moved into my daughter’s apartment, I would be on the next plane to help her pack up. I would like to think that my kids have enough common sense not to agree to this arrangement in the first place, or at least would have consulted with me to ask my opinion. I would not be paying rent for such a situation; why were they?