Lawsuit accuses NY college of negligence for harboring ex-con who abused students

The New York college where ex-convict Lawrence Ray moved into his daughter’s campus housing and began grooming her friends for abuse has been sued by two former students and the sister of one of the students who say they suffered years of abuse because of the college’s negligence

The New York college where ex-convict Lawrence Ray moved into his daughter's campus housing and began grooming her friends for abuse has been sued by two former students and the sister of one of the students who say they suffered years of abuse because of the college's negligence.

The plaintiffs allege in their lawsuit filed Nov. 21 in Manhattan federal court that 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 of Sarah Lawrence College “while he committed acts of manipulation, grooming, sexual abuse, food deprivation and sleep deprivation.”

A college spokesperson said in a statement Thursday, “Larry Ray committed heinous crimes for which he properly has been held responsible, convicted, and sentenced. We hope that sentencing has brought some resolution to Ray’s victims, for whom the College has deep sympathy. We will not comment on any aspect of this 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 dorm 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 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 in the fall of 2010 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.

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.