The Stolen Kids of Sarah Lawrence

[aliciabella]

Feb 11, 2020 12:55:20 GMT -5 ChillyMcFreeze said:

Wow. Just... I worked at a place like Sarah Lawrence. We attracted particular types of students. When someone in this article described them as fragile and doing things to draw attention to themselves, it felt like deja vu. College students can be very intelligent and still be incredibly insecure and vulnerable to someone who pays attention to them and makes them feel special and different. I can think of students of mine who would have fallen prey to this kind of thing in an instant, and no one would have been able to talk them out of it.

The part about the school not knowing he was living there -- I don't totally fault them for that, partly because of SL's wonky housing set-up and partly because college students slip a lot of crazy things under our noses. When I was a res life director, I found out that a mom had been living with her daughter for a week. Private room, small dorm, and either no one noticed or (most likely) no one reported it. (Topic for another post, but college students' lack of regard for watching out for their own community makes me want to tear my hair out.) The difference is, I nipped that shit in the bud as soon as I heard. So the response was abysmal, but you can't act on what you don't know, and you can't know everything.

Doesn't the CIA recruit pretty heavily from SL? It kinda makes sense in a crazy scary way. That whole story is crazy. Glad he has been arrested.

[bronxgirl]

Feb 14, 2020 19:27:22 GMT -5 aliciabella said:

Feb 11, 2020 12:55:20 GMT -5 ChillyMcFreeze said:

Wow. Just... I worked at a place like Sarah Lawrence. We attracted particular types of students. When someone in this article described them as fragile and doing things to draw attention to themselves, it felt like deja vu. College students can be very intelligent and still be incredibly insecure and vulnerable to someone who pays attention to them and makes them feel special and different. I can think of students of mine who would have fallen prey to this kind of thing in an instant, and no one would have been able to talk them out of it.

The part about the school not knowing he was living there -- I don't totally fault them for that, partly because of SL's wonky housing set-up and partly because college students slip a lot of crazy things under our noses. When I was a res life director, I found out that a mom had been living with her daughter for a week. Private room, small dorm, and either no one noticed or (most likely) no one reported it. (Topic for another post, but college students' lack of regard for watching out for their own community makes me want to tear my hair out.) The difference is, I nipped that shit in the bud as soon as I heard. So the response was abysmal, but you can't act on what you don't know, and you can't know everything.

Doesn't the CIA recruit pretty heavily from SL? It kinda makes sense in a crazy scary way. That whole story is crazy. Glad he has been arrested.

Really??? I had no idea! I've never thought of the CIA as artsy.

[ohgillian]

I just saw an update on this crazy story.

www.nytimes.com/2022/03/06/nyregion/larry-ray-trial-sarah-lawrence-cult.html

[af1212]

Mar 6, 2022 15:38:21 GMT -5 ohgillian said:

I just saw an update on this crazy story.

www.nytimes.com/2022/03/06/nyregion/larry-ray-trial-sarah-lawrence-cult.html

Can you give any details? This is behind a paywall for me. Like, was he found guilty?

[mouse]

Mar 6, 2022 20:17:11 GMT -5 af1212 said:

Mar 6, 2022 15:38:21 GMT -5 ohgillian said:

I just saw an update on this crazy story.

www.nytimes.com/2022/03/06/nyregion/larry-ray-trial-sarah-lawrence-cult.html

Can you give any details? This is behind a paywall for me. Like, was he found guilty?

Going to trial

Now, nearly three years after an article in New York magazine, “The Stolen Kids of Sarah Lawrence,” revealed Mr. Ray’s cult-leader tactics, he will stand trial in Federal District Court in Manhattan. Mr. Ray, indicted in 2020, will be tried on 17 counts, including sex trafficking, extortion, racketeering conspiracy and violent crime in aid of racketeering. Jury selection is scheduled to begin on Monday.

[af1212]

www.npr.org/2022/04/06/1091366560/a-dad-who-moved-into-his-daughters-dorm-room-is-convicted-of-abusing-her-friends

Lawrence Ray, 62, was convicted at a trial where weeks of testimony chronicled his psychologically manipulative relationship with young people he met in fall 2010 at Sarah Lawrence College, a small New York liberal arts school. Ray moved into his daughter's dorm after finishing a prison stint for a securities fraud conviction.

Jurors concluded deliberations less than a day after receiving the case following a monthlong trial that featured testimony from numerous victims who usually referred to Ray just as "Larry." Some testified that Ray had made them believe they had poisoned or otherwise harmed him and they needed to pay him back.

[livinitup]

National and world news has changed so much since 2010 or even 2020 when the story broke. I remember being so stunned that a cult leader could so easily master a bunch of college students in NY. I believed it, there was already enough info out there about charismatic leaders and groups. It still stunned me.

But now? I am over any illusion that this is not the norm rather than the exception. Hello Q-Anon, flat earthers, #45, Fox News.

I am very pleased he was convicted. And very angry he perpetrated such crimes.

[omgzombies]

Feb 14, 2020 20:40:42 GMT -5 bronxgirl said:

Feb 14, 2020 19:27:22 GMT -5 aliciabella said:

Doesn't the CIA recruit pretty heavily from SL? It kinda makes sense in a crazy scary way. That whole story is crazy. Glad he has been arrested.

Really??? I had no idea! I've never thought of the CIA as artsy.

They are always in need at least a couple artists to help make forged documentation.  

[MixedBerryJam]

Apr 7, 2022 8:43:59 GMT -5 livinitup said:

.

I am very pleased he was convicted. And very angry he perpetrated such crimes.

My son went to SLC 2014-18 and there wasn’t a whiff of even a rumor while he was there. He was as stunned as I was when the story broke. But I am still so profoundly angry that the school allowed it to happen; and then buried the story so efficiently. I’ve felt my heart rate increase just as I’m writing this. And my jaw is clenching. I was happy at this resolution but all those lost years break my heart.

[wesleycrusher]

www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/man-sex-trafficked-extorted-daughters-sarah-lawrence-schoolmates-sente-rcna66740

A New York man convicted on charges that he moved into his daughter’s dorm room at Sarah Lawrence College and abused students at the elite school in a nearly 10-year scheme was sentenced Friday to 60 years in prison.

Manhattan federal court Judge Lewis J. Liman told Lawrence Ray, 63, that his crimes were "particularly heinous."

Ray was convicted at trial last year of charges including racketeering, conspiracy, forced labor and sex trafficking.

[bronxgirl]

Thanks for posting the follow up. I saw the story yesterday but didn't get a chance to come here and post. What a truly evil man. I can't get over how horrific his crimes were and how they will affect his victims. I'm so glad he got such a long sentence and will die in prison.

[basilosaurus]

I love how we can keep a thread going for years with continual updates. Of course, that's usually because it takes years for justice to be served, but I'm glad he'll never be free again.

Were there ever charges brought against those involved in the cover up/permissiveness?

[cattledogkisses]

Jan 21, 2023 17:57:22 GMT -5 basilosaurus said:

I love how we can keep a thread going for years with continual updates. Of course, that's usually because it takes years for justice to be served, but I'm glad he'll never be free again.

Were there ever charges brought against those involved in the cover up/permissiveness?

I'd like to know too, because IMO Sarah Lawrence bears some responsibility here.  They were told that a 50-something year old male non-student had moved into the dorm and did nothing about it.  I have no idea why that was allowed to fly. 

[Velar Fricative]

His “lieutenant” (originally assumed to be a victim until further investigation) pled guilty a few months ago and will be sentenced next month.

lawandcrime.com/live-trials/live-trials-current/larry-ray-live-trials-current/isabella-pollok-pleads-guilty-to-conspiring-with-larry-ray-in-the-sarah-lawrence-sex-cult-case/amp/

I’m curious about his daughter and why she hasn’t been charged with anything. Or maybe she was and I missed it.

I wonder if this has hurt SLC in any way. Though, it might be hard to attach any declines in enrollment to this case because of so many other factors that have been causing declining enrollments at colleges.

[basilosaurus]

Jan 21, 2023 20:08:59 GMT -5 cattledogkisses said:

Jan 21, 2023 17:57:22 GMT -5 basilosaurus said:

I love how we can keep a thread going for years with continual updates. Of course, that's usually because it takes years for justice to be served, but I'm glad he'll never be free again.

Were there ever charges brought against those involved in the cover up/permissiveness?

I'd like to know too, because IMO Sarah Lawrence bears some responsibility here.  They were told that a 50-something year old male non-student had moved into the dorm and did nothing about it.  I have no idea why that was allowed to fly. 

There was more oversight when I stayed with my husband in his apt on base in a country where I was wholly unrestricted and had full access to the base and its facilities.

I know unis are not in loco parentis (except for those fundie places which I don't think legally they are, just by agreement), but they do have a level of responsibility for the safety of students. They failed big time.

[basilosaurus]

There's now a docuseries on Hulu. Episode one just dropped

[Deleted]

Feb 9, 2023 3:46:44 GMT -5 basilosaurus said:

There's now a docuseries on Hulu. Episode one just dropped

I was just about to come post this. 

[MixedBerryJam]

Feb 9, 2023 13:11:39 GMT -5 @rebeccawelton said:

Feb 9, 2023 3:46:44 GMT -5 basilosaurus said:

There's now a docuseries on Hulu. Episode one just dropped

I was just about to come post this. 

i was just texting my son about this. Every time this story bubbles up again my blood pressure goes up. I wonder who’s profiting and if the victims are benefiting.

[Deleted]

Feb 9, 2023 16:26:17 GMT -5 MixedBerryJam said:

Feb 9, 2023 13:11:39 GMT -5 @rebeccawelton said:

I was just about to come post this. 

i was just texting my son about this. Every time this story bubbles up again my blood pressure goes up. I wonder who’s profiting and if the victims are benefiting.

One of the victims actually approached the filmmaker about making it.

[Deleted]

This third episode with the almost real-time deprogramming of Felicia is just heart-wrenching.

[wambam]

I watched the hulu doc last weekend and it was absolutely the most disturbing documentary I’ve ever watched. The on-screen violence was way worse than I could’ve imagined. Izzy and Felicia’s scenes were very hard to watch.

[bronxgirl]

Feb 13, 2023 20:36:01 GMT -5 wambam said:

I watched the hulu doc last weekend and it was absolutely the most disturbing documentary I’ve ever watched. The on-screen violence was way worse than I could’ve imagined. Izzy and Felicia’s scenes were very hard to watch.

This is what I was afraid of.  I felt very disturbed just reading the article. I think the documentary would be way too much for me.  I already feel uneasy sometimes when I drive by the SL campus because it reminds me of the article, and it was a few years ago that I read it. 

[pugz]

We started watching and it is bonkers. The fact that he recorded all those phone calls and had video of interrogations. Just mind blowing

[bronxgirl]

Stephanie Ruhle on MSNNBC just announced that she will be interviewing the documentary maker on her show tonight. I think I have the stomach to watch the interview, if not the actual documentary.

[icedcoffee]

I just finished binging the documentary. Holy shit. It’s just insane that one man had that much power. So heartbreaking.

I wonder where Talia is now.

[nothingcontroversial]

Does anyone know if Sarah Lawrence changed any of its policies are procedures as a result of this?

[tacokick]

Feb 20, 2023 10:11:21 GMT -5 nothingcontroversial said:

Does anyone know if Sarah Lawrence changed any of its policies are procedures as a result of this?

I wondered what the fall out was for them. It really sounded to me like they did have some policies that would have helped in place at the time but didn’t enforce them.

[nothingcontroversial]

Feb 20, 2023 15:20:58 GMT -5 tacokick said:

Feb 20, 2023 10:11:21 GMT -5 nothingcontroversial said:

Does anyone know if Sarah Lawrence changed any of its policies are procedures as a result of this?

I wondered what the fall out was for them. It really sounded to me like they did have some policies that would have helped in place at the time but didn’t enforce them.

I was wondering because I went to a really small private school that was off by itself, so there were rooms in the dorm for the upperclassmen, and it made sense for a lot of upperclassmen to live in the dorms for four years. It was inconvenient (and expensive) for people to move off campus and live in off-campus housing, so that's why I lived in the dorms for all four years. 

Anyway, my senior year of college, I lived on a floor in a dorm with a bunch of other female college students. One of my friends specifically picked the room that was next to the stairwell so that she could sneak overnight guests on and off of the floor. (We weren't supposed to have overnight guests unless they were pre-approved. So, for instance, you could have your best friend from your high school hometown spend the weekend in your dorm room if they wanted to visit. However, you weren't supposed to pick up some guy at the bar and take him back to your dorm room at 1 in the morning.)

Anyway, at the very beginning of senior year (actually, she met him a week before the school year began), this friend starting dating some guy who was 15 years older than us. So, since we were all 21, I guess that he was 36. Anyway, she moved him into her dorm room with her for most of the year. He was recently divorced, and he technically lived with his mom. He worked at a nearby factory, and he worked night shifts there. I mention this just to give an idea of what kind of hours he spent on this college campus.  After he started dating my friend, instead of going home from his factory shift to sleep at his mom's house, he went to our college dorm and slept in my friend's dorm room. My friend would be at class, and her much older boyfriend would be sleeping in her dorm room. 

Then, it seemed as if whenever we did anything social with this friend, he was there. So, the entire year, there was this 36-year-old guy hanging around with a bunch of 21-year-old women. He even accompanied her to some campus-sponsored activities. So, when we went on the campus hayride for Halloween, he was there with us.  

He even ate meals in the cafeteria with us.

This happened for the entire academic year.

We all put up with it at the time and nobody snitched on my friend for having an additional person living with her full time because we were young and I guess that we wanted to be chill about it. However, now that I'm older, I realize how creepy this living situation was.

They broke up about a year after we graduated from college. 

[Deleted]

Isabella was sentenced to 4 1/2 years.

www.nytimes.com/2023/02/22/nyregion/sarah-lawrence-sex-cult-pollok-sentencing.html

[tacokick]

Feb 20, 2023 19:32:04 GMT -5 nothingcontroversial said:

Feb 20, 2023 15:20:58 GMT -5 tacokick said:

I wondered what the fall out was for them. It really sounded to me like they did have some policies that would have helped in place at the time but didn’t enforce them.

I was wondering because I went to a really small private school that was off by itself, so there were rooms in the dorm for the upperclassmen, and it made sense for a lot of upperclassmen to live in the dorms for four years. It was inconvenient (and expensive) for people to move off campus and live in off-campus housing, so that's why I lived in the dorms for all four years. 

Anyway, my senior year of college, I lived on a floor in a dorm with a bunch of other female college students. One of my friends specifically picked the room that was next to the stairwell so that she could sneak overnight guests on and off of the floor. (We weren't supposed to have overnight guests unless they were pre-approved. So, for instance, you could have your best friend from your high school hometown spend the weekend in your dorm room if they wanted to visit. However, you weren't supposed to pick up some guy at the bar and take him back to your dorm room at 1 in the morning.)

Anyway, at the very beginning of senior year (actually, she met him a week before the school year began), this friend starting dating some guy who was 15 years older than us. So, since we were all 21, I guess that he was 36. Anyway, she moved him into her dorm room with her for most of the year. He was recently divorced, and he technically lived with his mom. He worked at a nearby factory, and he worked night shifts there. I mention this just to give an idea of what kind of hours he spent on this college campus.  After he started dating my friend, instead of going home from his factory shift to sleep at his mom's house, he went to our college dorm and slept in my friend's dorm room. My friend would be at class, and her much older boyfriend would be sleeping in her dorm room. 

Then, it seemed as if whenever we did anything social with this friend, he was there. So, the entire year, there was this 36-year-old guy hanging around with a bunch of 21-year-old women. He even accompanied her to some campus-sponsored activities. So, when we went on the campus hayride for Halloween, he was there with us.  

He even ate meals in the cafeteria with us.

This happened for the entire academic year.

We all put up with it at the time and nobody snitched on my friend for having an additional person living with her full time because we were young and I guess that we wanted to be chill about it. However, now that I'm older, I realize how creepy this living situation was.

They broke up about a year after we graduated from college. 

Gross!

I remember a situation like this when I was in college but her friends ratted her right out because everyone was disturbed by this “old” guy in his 30s hanging around all the time and thought it was weird he’d want to date a 19-20 year old. The school (expensive private) kicked him right out and banned him from campus. This was in like 1999? So I was surprised that SL didn’t take the complaints more seriously 10 or so yrs later. Even though he was the dad, why risk having a problem?


I do sort of wonder if it is a case of (and I’m not sure how to word this exactly) of liberal opened mindedness gone amuck? Like I can’t even imagine my roommate telling her her felon father wants to crash with us and not seeing that as a major red flag even as a college student. Like an adult should have somewhere else to go! Actual students don’t like the dorms! But maybe they didn’t want to seem judgey? Did even the ones who complained downplay it?