Peacock's 'Sex, Lies, and the College Cult,' along with Hulu's 'Stolen Youth,' are capable of being described as horrifying, shocking, and terrifying. That's because it delves into the way a single man managed to brainwash his daughter's friends at the famous Sarah Lawrence College for a decade before the truth was revealed. Now, if you wish to learn more about him — Lawrence "Larry" Ray — with
Larry Ray, who is he?
Larry Grecco, who was born in 1959 in Brooklyn's Bay Ridge area, opted for his stepfather's last name as soon as possible to match his real family. Yet it's vital to note that he's also a dangerous conman adept at exploiting any situation. According to The Cut, he's since rubbed shoulders with some of the greatest names in every industry by simply blending some facts and lies.
Larry reportedly worked on Wall Street in the 1980s, was a restaurant partner, and even served in the Air Force for 19 days, only to later become an FBI informant about a securities fraud committed by the latter.
Larry was sentenced to five years in prison in April 2003 after pleading guilty to fraud, which enraged him since he received no help from his NYPD commissioner friend Bernard Kerik. It's what prompted him to refuse a court order of transferring his children to his former wife/mother around the mid-2000s, leading to a six-month sentence in contempt court.
Larry was swiftly apprehended and sent to jail after a 2006 domestic abuse incident, which was later reopened. He was then released in the fall of 2010, when his daughter Talia moved into her sophomore year two-story brick dorm at Sarah Lawrence College, where she studied liberal arts.
According to records, Larry's "therapy sessions" to ostensibly "help" young adults with their "psychological difficulties" laid the foundation for their mental, physical, and personal well-being. After all, it left them completely vulnerable, eventually leading them "to become unwitting victims of sexual exploitation, verbal and physical abuse, forced labor, and prostitution."
Larry even "alienated several of the victims from their parents, and convinced several of the victims that they were "broken," and that [him] needed to fix their problems, according to police reports." The fact that he moved into an Upper East Side apartment the following year with some of the kids, only to soon add others and dictate every aspect of their lives just made matters worse.
What Has Happened to Larry Ray?
Larry Ray's secret was exposed in February 2020, eventually leading to his arrest on 15 federal charges related to his terror against those who were much more vulnerable. His charges including murder of a male victim while carrying a sharp knife, income from forcing a female victim into prostitution, and falsely accusing his former friend Bernard "Bernie" Kerik of poisoning him
Larry was convicted of racketeering conspiracy, extortion, violent assault, obtaining forced labor, contraband trafficking, and money laundering on April 6, 2022. More than nine months later, on January 20, 2023, the 63-year-old was sentenced to 60 years without the possibility of parole at the Metropolitan Detention Center-Brooklyn in New York City, New York.
"Larry Ray is a monster." On the day of Larry's sentencing, US Attorney Damian Williams said candidly: "He groomed and abused innocent victims for his own gain." Through physical and psychological abuse, he took control of his victims' minds and bodies, then pocketed millions of dollars."
