A man could serve 15 years in prison after being convicted of forced labor, sex trafficking students, and more, all while living in his daughter’s dorm room.
Larry Ray, 62, lived in his daughter’s dorm room at Sarah Lawrence College for 12 years. And while there, he psychologically and sexually abused multiple people, including students, and collected millions from a sex trafficking operation that he forced them to be a part of.
“Twelve years ago, Larry Ray moved into his daughter’s dorm room at Sarah Lawrence College,” said U.S. Attorney Damian Williams for the Southern District of New York in the news release, CNN reports. “And when he got there, he met a group of friends who had their whole lives ahead of them. For the next decade, he used violence, threats, and psychological abuse to try to control and destroy their lives. He exploited them. He terrorized them. He tortured them. Let me be very clear. Larry Ray is a predator. An evil man who did evil things.”
According to the Department of Justice, Ray participated in and forced his victims to participate in a number of illegal activities. According to the indictment, CNN reports that Ray took payments from victims after manipulating them into making false confessions about causing damages to him, his family, and associates.
None of his victims actually owed him money. Still, he reportedly made them believe they did, which led to them paying him with money from their credit lines. Parents’ savings accounts, and some even sold their ownership in real estate. He also instructed them to work for him as prostitutes. He also reportedly tied a woman to a chair and put a plastic bag over her head, nearly suffocating her.
Ray has been convicted of racketeering conspiracy, extortion, sex trafficking, obtained forced labor, forced labor trafficking, conspiracy to obtain forced labor, violating the Travel Act, four counts of tax evasion, and money laundering.
