Judge finds Larry Ray guilty on all counts in Sarah Lawrence sex cult trial

Sarah Lawrence College sex-cult leader Larry Ray was convicted on Wednesday on all charges by a jury in Manhattan.  

Ray showed no emotion as the jury foreperson repeated “guilty” on all 15 counts. Ray, 62 faces life in prison. Sentencing is scheduled for September and will be undertaken by Manhattan federal Judge Lewis Liman.

During the trial, both prosecutors and victims portrayed Ray as a calculating predator who asserted control over a group of college students and other to enrich himself as the leader of a criminal organization he called “The Ray Family.”

“When his victims were completely subdued, when they were under his control, he committed crimes to get them to pay – extortion, forced labor, sex trafficking, obstruction of justice, financial crimes,” Assistant US Attorney Mollie Bracewell told jurors in her closing arguments.

“The defendant did all this for control, for his own greed, and to increase his power, to cement his position in the organized group that he led.”

Ray’s crimes reportedly went on for a decade. Federal authorities started investigating Ray after a New York magazine article revealed his relationship with the former Sarah Lawrence students.

Ray’s biggest cash cow was collecting money that victim Claudia Drury earned whilst working as a prostitute at his direction, she testified at trial.