Just awful…
I’m glad he got such a long sentence!
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Sadly those women’s lives are ruined and so many who loved them were badly harmed as well. What a monster that man is.
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I feel Sarah Lawrence had a lot of responsibility for this too as they knew he was living in the house that it owned and didn’t protect the students.
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I’m glad they put that sick man away. I hope Sarah Lawrence cleaned up their act too. Why would a student’s parent be allowed to stay in the dorm?
Yes! Did they investigate the school as well? Why was this allowed? Why did this go on for as long as it did? I get college students are “adults” but where were the “sane” adults here? Where was the voice of reason? Why didn’t anyone think it was odd that a student’s parent, who was much older then all the students, was living in university owned housing?
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It wasn’t a traditional dorm with two beds and a bath down the hall. It was a house with many bedrooms and no RA in charge. Still, I believe the situation was reported to Sarah Lawrence while this was happening and SL’s response was that parents are allowed to visit and stay over.
It’s been awhile since I read the original (very long) article, but some of the grooming took place on SL campus. The bulk of it was after they (Ray, his daughter, and several students) move to NYC for the summer and then stayed longer.
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Ah I see. I’ve heard of parents being allowed to visit, but stay over? I’ve never heard of that being allowed…
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I was unfamiliar with this story until I saw the news last night. I searched for more details to try to understand how this even happened on a college campus. I found this article from 2022 that goes into his full backstory and details of how he groomed and manipulated those kids for years. It’s a lengthy, disturbing, eye opening read…
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I read only a fraction of the article before I was creeped out and stopped. And yes, Sarah Lawrence should get a good deal of the blame.
But what about the parents of these kids? Did every one one of them have such a bad relationship with their parents that they didn’t mention it? Do they even talk?
I mean, my wife talks to our 20+ year old kids at least every other day (me a bit less often). I can’t think of any mother or father who upon hearing this wouldn’t drop everything to get their child out of the situation.
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Yes, normal loving parents would certainly respond the way you said. Not everyone is lucky enough to have such parents.
I hope these former Sarah Lawrence students will get all of the counseling and support they need, and may need for years to come.
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The article does make specific mention of parents who tried to intervene to pull their children away. It also states that others refused to speak on record about their experiences with Larry, out of fear that he would retaliate and cause them even more harm. Not clear if any of those who refused were parents of the kids. This article was originally written in 2019 and updated in 2022, so written before he was sentenced to 60 years in prison. Based on what is stated in this article, he probably still has loyalists on the outside, who may be willing to carry out harm to others despite his incarceration.
Thankfully, I’ve never known anyone who had been drawn into a cult. But I’ve watched family members ruin their lives with addiction, despite lots of support and intervention from parents and family. My cousin spent decades ruining his body with hard drugs. My aunt and uncle spent years trying to be supportive, and thousands of dollars on multiple stints in rehab for him. The communication, effort and support were there, but he wasn’t listening. He went back to hard drugs every time. Ultimately, he died in his early 50s after the damage to his body caught up with him.
I think that severe brainwashing from a cult or manipulative individual can have a similar effect as those gripped by addiction. They don’t see the harm, and won’t listen to loved ones who try to pull them out. It is a terrible and distressing situation to be in as a parent, so I personally do not pass judgement on the parents of these kids. It’s a very sad and scary situation - he ruined the lives of so many people.
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Harmed, horribly hurt and wounded, but ruined? That is very diminishing and insulting to these people who have been harmed. Referring to somebody, especially a woman, who has been sexually abused as having been “ruined” or as having their lives “ruined” has awful connotations.
If they have been in a car accident, and now need a year of physical therapy until they can walk, and even then will likely limp, would you call their lives “ruined”? They suffered deep psychological harm and will need lots of help and support, and even then it will take time until they are OK, but their lives are not “ruined”, and they are not “ruined”.
I’m certain that you didn’t mean anything negative about these women when you used this term, but it’s always worthwhile to stop and reflect on the terminology that one uses in these cases.
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One of the victims was going to be a MD but got sidetracked by this guy—ok maybe that’s not “ruined” exactly but definitely get life took nasty detours and it’s unlikely she will ever be able to get back on that track. Technically, yes, the lives were not RUINED but definitely derailed for at least a decade and who knows how they will rebuild. Sone are out a lot of money as well.
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Some of the parents paid thousands of dollars to him to get their kids back and then the requests for more money kept coming.
Where does his own daughter figure in on all of this? I read recently that she enabled and assisted him when all this was going on and continues to communicate with him and support him.
The article says she’s being sentenced too (in a week? month?)
Not according to this article:
“Talia Ray has also been investigated as a co-conspirator of her father, but no charges have been brought against her.”
Her alleged best friend apparently was recently sentenced: