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Two former students are suing Sarah Lawrence College, arguing the New York school failed to protect them from Lawrence "Larry" Ray as the ex-convict moved into his daughter’s housing on campus and began grooming her friends for abuse.
The plaintiffs, who also include the sister of one of the students, allege in their Manhattan federal court civil suit filed late last month that they suffered years of abuse because of the college’s negligence.
The lawsuit says Ray made little attempt to hide the fact that he had moved in with his daughter in 2010 and was allowed to remain on the campus "while he committed acts of manipulation, grooming, sexual abuse, food deprivation and sleep deprivation."
A hedge row marks the campus of Sarah Lawrence College in Yonkers, N.Y., Feb. 11, 2020. The ex-convict charged with forcing some college students into prostitution or unpaid labor as he cheated them out of nearly $1 million made statements after his arrest, a prosecutor said Wednesday, Dec. 6, 2023. (AP Photo/Luke Sheridan)
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A college spokesperson said in a statement Thursday that the school had "deep sympathy" for Ray’s victims, but that it wouldn’t comment on the litigation "beyond noting that we believe the facts will tell a different story than the unproven allegations made in the complaint that has been filed."
Ray was convicted in April 2022 of charges including racketeering, conspiracy, forced labor and sex trafficking after weeks of testimony chronicling his manipulative relationship with young people in his daughter's circle. Ray had moved into his daughter’s dormitory at Sarah Lawrence, a small liberal arts school, after finishing a prison stint for a securities fraud conviction.
Ray was sentenced in January 2023 to 60 years in prison by a judge who called him an "evil genius" who used sadism and psychological torture to control his victims.
The plaintiffs in the Nov. 21 civil lawsuit say they were abused and manipulated by Ray for years, first at Sarah Lawrence and later in other locations including a Manhattan condominium and a home in Piscataway, New Jersey.
They say college officials ignored the presence of a then-50-year-old man who moved into his daughter's dormitory and "immediately integrated himself into the lives of the young people who lived in it."
Ray lived in the dorm for nearly an entire academic year, the lawsuit says, and during that time several students, community members and parents contacted the college to complain about Ray's abusive behavior, yet the college "did nothing to investigate or intervene to prevent harm to Plaintiffs."
The plaintiffs say Ray made himself so thoroughly at home that he once set off a fire alarm by cooking a meal.
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Ray was the only person in the dorm room when firefighters and college security arrived, the lawsuit says, and no one from the college asked Ray what he was doing there. Nor was he monitored after the fire "to ensure he was not residing at the dormitory with the college students," according to the lawsuit.
The plaintiffs are seeking unspecified damages for their pain and suffering as well as health care costs and lost potential income.
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