Sarah Lawrence 'Sex Cult' Leader Larry Ray Moved Into A College Dorm At 50
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If you're a true crime junkie, then Stolen Youth: Inside The Cult At Sarah Lawrence, Hulu's newest docuseries, is the show for you.
The three-part series follows the story of Lawrence "Larry" Ray (born "Lawrence Grecco" according to The United States Department of Justice), a man who indoctrinated Sarah Lawrence College students into what has since been dubbed a "sex cult" beginning in 2010. His abuse continued for about a decade, say survivors and authorities.
The story first broke in New York magazine in April 2019. The article eventually led to a federal investigation, and later, the conviction of Larry Ray, according to the New York Times.
The series features first-hand interviews with people who interacted with Ray, and will also include audio tapes and videos from survivors, according to Hulu Press.
The series, directed by Zach Heinzerling, spotlights at least five of the student survivors, who are now in their early 30s, including Daniel Levin, Felicia Rosario, and her brother Santos Rosario.
If you're wondering what happened to Larry Ray after all of this went down, here is everything to know about the so-called "cult" leader, and where he is now.
Larry Ray was the father of a Sarah Lawrence student.
Ray first met the college students through his daughter, Talia Ray, in September 2010. At the time, Talia was a sophomore at Sarah Lawrence and lived in a large dorm named Slonim Woods 9 with seven other students, according to the New York magazine article.
Ray moved in with his daughter in the dorm after he was released from prison, where he served time for a custody charge related to his children. Talia claimed (and told other students) that her father was imprisoned for “heroically” trying to save her sister and herself from her “abusive mother,” according to the New York Times.
Ray quickly solidified a relationship with the other students living in the dorm by cooking dinners and ordering delivery, according to New York magazine. He would also give them “therapy” sessions under the guise of helping them with psychological issues, per the Guardian.
What happened with the Sarah Lawrence students?
At Sarah Lawrence, Ray targeted a young student named Isabella Pollok, who was going through a break up. Ray began sleeping in her dorm room and even convinced her to stay with Talia and himself in a one-bedroom condo in New York City during Sarah Lawrence’s winter break in 2010.
Later, Ray convinced three more Sarah Lawrence students–Daniel Levin, Claudia Drury, and Santos Rosario–to live in the same condo with Talia, Isabella, and himself during the summer of 2011, according to court documents.
Ray would later be accused of "sexual and psychological manipulation and physical abuse," by U.S. Attorney Damian Williams in a Department of Justice press release. The press release claimed that Ray used tactics like "sleep deprivation, psychological and sexual humiliation, verbal abuse, threats of physical violence, physical violence, threats of criminal legal action, alienating the victims from their families, and exploiting the victims’ mental health vulnerabilities."
The press release also called Ray a "monster," stating that he "inflicted brutal and lifelong harm on innocent victims. Students who had their lives ahead of them."
Larry Ray served as a federal informant.
In the early 1990s, Ray reportedly started an insurance brokerage firm, which often helped insure construction projects. Federal investigators claimed that he was later approached by an alleged mobster who owned a company called U.S. Bridge of New York and agreed to provide insurance for a project, according to the New York Times.
After believing he was going to be killed by someone in the mob, Ray served as an informant on a federal investigation into securities fraud, the Times reported. He later pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit security fraud as part of that same scheme and served five years probation, according to the New York Times.
He was hyper-fixated on the military.
Although Ray only served in the Air Force(for 19 days, he told the Sarah Lawrence students that he was a former Marine. He even convinced Talia’s high school ex-boyfriend, Iban Goicoechea, to join the Marines, per Intelligencer. When Claudia Drury initially fell into Ray’s circle, her friends noticed something was off by how often she posted about the Marines on Facebook, according to New York Magazine.
Ray was reportedly close friends with a few Marines, though–including General Charles Pitman retired Marine Commandant General James L. Jones.
Ray was arrested in 2020.
The viral 2019 New York magazine article triggered an investigation into Larry Ray’s crimes. Following its publication, Ray was arrested in February 2020.
Sarah Lawrence students testified against him.
In April 2022, Ray was charged with racketeering, sex trafficking, extortion and other charges. He pleaded not guilty to the charges, according to Intelligencer. His trial was postponed multiple times due to medical emergencies, per The Daily Beast.
During his trial, several survivors testified against him. Claudia Drury testified that Larry coerced her into prostitution in order to pay off a "debt" that he convinced her she owed him, per The Guardian. Over four years, Drury alleged gave him around $2.5 million.
Ray was recently sentenced to prison.
He was sentenced to 60 years in prison by Judge Lewis J. Liman on January 20, 2023, according to the New York Times.
He’s currently 63 years old.
Ray was born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1959, which made him around 50 when he moved into the Sarah Lawrence dorms, according to New York magazine. He is currently 63, according to the Department of Justice, Southern District of New York.
Where is Larry Ray now?
After the verdict on January 20, 2023, Ray was escorted out of the courtroom by U.S. marshals, according to Intelligencer. He's apparently been in prison ever since, according to ABC News.
In addition to his 60-year sentence, Ray was also sentenced to a lifetime of supervised release, was ordered to forfeit over $2 million, and a home in Pinehurst, North Carolina, according to the Department of Justice, Southern District of New York.
Where is Talia now?
Ray's daughter, Talia–along with two other Sarah Lawrence students involved in the "cult"–denied all claims made against Ray in the New York magazine article. Ray told the magazine that he still speaks to Talia “every day,” and that she moved in with her step-grandfather in North Carolina.
To learn more about Larry Ray and the survivors of his abuse, you can watch Stolen Youth: Inside The Cult At Sarah Lawrence on Hulu. It drops February 9, 2023.
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