Totally crazy story: a "cult" at Sarah Lawrence College

[Anonymous]

The details that came out during the trial are horrific, including the torture of Claudia for 7 hours. Evil, evil man. His coconspirator, Isabella, goes on trial this summer.

[Anonymous]

To me, one of the odd things about this story is that Ray was the best man at the wedding of Bernard Kerik (the former NYC police commissioner):

https://www.thecut.com/2022/04/larry-ray-sarah-lawrence-students.html

[Anonymous]

Agree with all of the above. The article below fills in many gaps about his treatment of the young adults:

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10660141/Sarah-Lawrence-sex-cult-wife-tells-leader-Larry-Ray-sent-sexual-challenges.html


I read another article where he had been forensically examined and the examiner basically said he was impossible to classify. He is so manipulative and would wear down any examiner, no matter how experienced.

[Anonymous]

This is the guy? He's very unattractive

[Anonymous]

Tragic and almost unbelievable story. So many young promising lives ruined by one predatory deviant conman.

There was a thread in another education related form about someone wanting to help ani e young girl get into a good private school although her father was a registered sex offender. Many said they felt sorry for the girl but they would object to a registered sex offender being part of school community with access to their children. This extreme story helps me to understand that position better.

It is a wonder the elite college has not been sued, or maybe it has? It makes me wonder about how much parents of young adult children can realistically help shape healthy choices. I can’t imagine the heart break of the parents of the three siblings.

[Anonymous]

I hope his terrible daughter is held accountable too.

[Anonymous]

I wonder about charging Isabella, who participated in Claudia's torture, but was brainwashed herself. Like, when does it cross over from being a victim, coerced and not responsible, to being responsible for your own actions?

I read recently about the "Ken and Barbie killers" in Canada. The man was a real psychopath who tortured and killed many women. His girlfriend participated in 3-4 murders. It seems like they were in a "cult of two," like she would have never done those things if she hadn't been under his spell and abused/coerced by him.

I got so interested this past week that I read Daniel's memoir "Slonim 19." It is so crazy that these kids would do anything that Ray told them to do, like Daniel was still carrying out Ray's suggestions when he was away for entire semesters in England. Over the phone, Ray was like, "You kids should go have sex somewhere in public, and then tell me about it." And so Daniel and Claudia did, even though they were just friends who weren't hooking up.

Was this group of of kids particularly fragile and susceptible? Or maybe young people are fragile and susceptible by definition.

I wonder about so many things ...

How is Ray's ex wife Teresa and daughter Ava? Quite a feat for them to get away from him. I read that the mom will not allow Talia into Ava's life, which makes sense!! The therapy they must have needed!

Is Talia still on her dad's side? Was this whole trial just part of the conspiracy to her? I can just feel how obnoxious this young woman is, and maybe soon armed with a law degree. Can you imagine how horrible it would be to be in law school with her, or to be her professor? Shudder! But I also feel sorry for her. Did she even have a chance. Her dad must have made her into a narcissist early on.

Aside from Talia, I wonder if any of the rest of them are still on Ray's side.

In Daniel's memoir, one of the best parts is the ending, where he writes a letter to the group of them encouraging them to see the light and get out. It's very moving.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I wonder about charging Isabella, who participated in Claudia's torture, but was brainwashed herself. Like, when does it cross over from being a victim, coerced and not responsible, to being responsible for your own actions?

I read recently about the "Ken and Barbie killers" in Canada. The man was a real psychopath who tortured and killed many women. His girlfriend participated in 3-4 murders. It seems like they were in a "cult of two," like she would have never done those things if she hadn't been under his spell and abused/coerced by him.

I got so interested this past week that I read Daniel's memoir "Slonim 19." It is so crazy that these kids would do anything that Ray told them to do, like Daniel was still carrying out Ray's suggestions when he was away for entire semesters in England. Over the phone, Ray was like, "You kids should go have sex somewhere in public, and then tell me about it." And so Daniel and Claudia did, even though they were just friends who weren't hooking up.

Was this group of of kids particularly fragile and susceptible? Or maybe young people are fragile and susceptible by definition.

I wonder about so many things ...

How is Ray's ex wife Teresa and daughter Ava? Quite a feat for them to get away from him. I read that the mom will not allow Talia into Ava's life, which makes sense!! The therapy they must have needed!

Is Talia still on her dad's side? Was this whole trial just part of the conspiracy to her? I can just feel how obnoxious this young woman is, and maybe soon armed with a law degree. Can you imagine how horrible it would be to be in law school with her, or to be her professor? Shudder! But I also feel sorry for her. Did she even have a chance. Her dad must have made her into a narcissist early on.

Aside from Talia, I wonder if any of the rest of them are still on Ray's side.

In Daniel's memoir, one of the best parts is the ending, where he writes a letter to the group of them encouraging them to see the light and get out. It's very moving.

Wow I didn’t realize Talia was in law school! Where? Is there an article with more info about her role?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wonder about charging Isabella, who participated in Claudia's torture, but was brainwashed herself. Like, when does it cross over from being a victim, coerced and not responsible, to being responsible for your own actions?

I read recently about the "Ken and Barbie killers" in Canada. The man was a real psychopath who tortured and killed many women. His girlfriend participated in 3-4 murders. It seems like they were in a "cult of two," like she would have never done those things if she hadn't been under his spell and abused/coerced by him.

I got so interested this past week that I read Daniel's memoir "Slonim 19." It is so crazy that these kids would do anything that Ray told them to do, like Daniel was still carrying out Ray's suggestions when he was away for entire semesters in England. Over the phone, Ray was like, "You kids should go have sex somewhere in public, and then tell me about it." And so Daniel and Claudia did, even though they were just friends who weren't hooking up.

Was this group of of kids particularly fragile and susceptible? Or maybe young people are fragile and susceptible by definition.

I wonder about so many things ...

How is Ray's ex wife Teresa and daughter Ava? Quite a feat for them to get away from him. I read that the mom will not allow Talia into Ava's life, which makes sense!! The therapy they must have needed!

Is Talia still on her dad's side? Was this whole trial just part of the conspiracy to her? I can just feel how obnoxious this young woman is, and maybe soon armed with a law degree. Can you imagine how horrible it would be to be in law school with her, or to be her professor? Shudder! But I also feel sorry for her. Did she even have a chance. Her dad must have made her into a narcissist early on.

Aside from Talia, I wonder if any of the rest of them are still on Ray's side.

In Daniel's memoir, one of the best parts is the ending, where he writes a letter to the group of them encouraging them to see the light and get out. It's very moving.

Wow I didn’t realize Talia was in law school! Where? Is there an article with more info about her role?

I am not sure if she ended up going to law school, but in Daniel's memoir, she was applying. Sometimes something went wrong with an application, and her dad would punish the others for "sabotaging" her. Daniel was very sensitive about not spilling other people's dirt in the book, he focuses on the things he experienced firsthand. For example, he never mentions anything about Claudia's prostitution. Claudia only appears in the book when she has interactions with Daniel. But, my impression of Talia as an obnoxious know-it-all narcissist is from the book.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
To me, one of the odd things about this story is that Ray was the best man at the wedding of Bernard Kerik (the former NYC police commissioner):

https://www.thecut.com/2022/04/larry-ray-sarah-lawrence-students.html

Kerik is sketchy AF so that doesn’t surprise me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wonder about charging Isabella, who participated in Claudia's torture, but was brainwashed herself. Like, when does it cross over from being a victim, coerced and not responsible, to being responsible for your own actions?

I read recently about the "Ken and Barbie killers" in Canada. The man was a real psychopath who tortured and killed many women. His girlfriend participated in 3-4 murders. It seems like they were in a "cult of two," like she would have never done those things if she hadn't been under his spell and abused/coerced by him.

I got so interested this past week that I read Daniel's memoir "Slonim 19." It is so crazy that these kids would do anything that Ray told them to do, like Daniel was still carrying out Ray's suggestions when he was away for entire semesters in England. Over the phone, Ray was like, "You kids should go have sex somewhere in public, and then tell me about it." And so Daniel and Claudia did, even though they were just friends who weren't hooking up.

Was this group of of kids particularly fragile and susceptible? Or maybe young people are fragile and susceptible by definition.

I wonder about so many things ...

How is Ray's ex wife Teresa and daughter Ava? Quite a feat for them to get away from him. I read that the mom will not allow Talia into Ava's life, which makes sense!! The therapy they must have needed!

Is Talia still on her dad's side? Was this whole trial just part of the conspiracy to her? I can just feel how obnoxious this young woman is, and maybe soon armed with a law degree. Can you imagine how horrible it would be to be in law school with her, or to be her professor? Shudder! But I also feel sorry for her. Did she even have a chance. Her dad must have made her into a narcissist early on.

Aside from Talia, I wonder if any of the rest of them are still on Ray's side.

In Daniel's memoir, one of the best parts is the ending, where he writes a letter to the group of them encouraging them to see the light and get out. It's very moving.

Wow I didn’t realize Talia was in law school! Where? Is there an article with more info about her role?

The public link to her LinkedIn is broken, but it shows her as being a paralegal in South Carolina.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the review of Slonim Woods 9. Will read it based on the recommendation here. A few other reviews were positive also.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wonder about charging Isabella, who participated in Claudia's torture, but was brainwashed herself. Like, when does it cross over from being a victim, coerced and not responsible, to being responsible for your own actions?

I read recently about the "Ken and Barbie killers" in Canada. The man was a real psychopath who tortured and killed many women. His girlfriend participated in 3-4 murders. It seems like they were in a "cult of two," like she would have never done those things if she hadn't been under his spell and abused/coerced by him.

I got so interested this past week that I read Daniel's memoir "Slonim 19." It is so crazy that these kids would do anything that Ray told them to do, like Daniel was still carrying out Ray's suggestions when he was away for entire semesters in England. Over the phone, Ray was like, "You kids should go have sex somewhere in public, and then tell me about it." And so Daniel and Claudia did, even though they were just friends who weren't hooking up.

Was this group of of kids particularly fragile and susceptible? Or maybe young people are fragile and susceptible by definition.

I wonder about so many things ...

How is Ray's ex wife Teresa and daughter Ava? Quite a feat for them to get away from him. I read that the mom will not allow Talia into Ava's life, which makes sense!! The therapy they must have needed!

Is Talia still on her dad's side? Was this whole trial just part of the conspiracy to her? I can just feel how obnoxious this young woman is, and maybe soon armed with a law degree. Can you imagine how horrible it would be to be in law school with her, or to be her professor? Shudder! But I also feel sorry for her. Did she even have a chance. Her dad must have made her into a narcissist early on.

Aside from Talia, I wonder if any of the rest of them are still on Ray's side.

In Daniel's memoir, one of the best parts is the ending, where he writes a letter to the group of them encouraging them to see the light and get out. It's very moving.

Wow I didn’t realize Talia was in law school! Where? Is there an article with more info about her role?

The public link to her LinkedIn is broken, but it shows her as being a paralegal in South Carolina.

She is now a co defendant as well …

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10643835/Sarah-Lawrence-sex-cult-trial-resumes.html

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thanks for the review of Slonim Woods 9. Will read it based on the recommendation here. A few other reviews were positive also.

I posted earlier and accidentally called it "Slonim 19" ha, the actual title is in fact "Slonim Woods 9." The kid really did a nice and sensitive job with this book, and it had to have been really hard for him, considering what he has to admit about how far he went to please Ray. Daniel could have maybe avoided the whole mess except he really wanted to stay in NYC over the summers, and Ray had a place. And then he fell under his spell.

There's one chapter in which Ray and Daniel go to a fancy department store and Ray is just talking, talking, talking at him nonstop, apparently that was one of Ray's strategies to "overwhelm" a person and then the person is just tired and wants to go along.

[Anonymous]

After watching “The Vow” and “Seduced” about NXIVM, I’m reading Don’t Call It A Cult by one of the journalists who covered the NXIVM case. There’s a lot of information about the process by which this stuff happens to people, and how their best characteristics (optimism, empathy, determination) can be used against them by a narcissist or sociopath.

The podcast “A Little Bit Culty” with two NXIVM survivors is fascinating. They haven’t covered Sarah Lawrence yet, but they have featured experts and survivors from a variety of cult situations, including the concept of the “cult of one.”