How I Escaped the Sarah Lawrence Sex Cult

FOR 10 YEARS, IVY LEAGUE GRAD FELICIA ROSARIO WAS UNDER THE CONTROL OF A SADISTIC MADMAN. NOW SHE'S FINALLY FREE AND WANTS THE WORLD TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENED

-  GILLIAN TELLING

Succeeding and thriving-amid challenging circumstances was pretty common for Felicia Rosario. By 2010 the Bronx-born daughter of Dominican immigrant parents had earned a degree in biochemistry from Harvard and a medical degree from Columbia. In her late 20s she was halfway through a rigorous forensic-psychiatry residency at a Los Angeles hospital, working toward her lifelong dream of becoming a doctor.

But on a family visit, her younger brother Santos, a sophomore at Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, N.Y., introduced her to Lawrence "Larry" Ray, a shady businessman fresh out of prison for securities fraud who was crashing at his daughter's dorm. Ray claimed to be a brilliant self-help guru who could heal past traumas. Felicia soon left her residency to join Ray and five college students, even as the "self-help" turned sinister to include sleep deprivation, mind control, extortion and sexual abuse.

Sarah Lawrence's bizarre "sex cult" was exposed by New York magazine's The Cut in 2019. And by April 2022 Ray had been convicted of charges including extortion and sex trafficking. (Ray's daughter reportedly stands by him.) This Jan. 20, Ray, 63, got a sentence of 60 years. "Larry Ray is a monster," said U.S. Attorney Damian Williams. "For years, he inflicted brutal and lifelong harm on innocent victims."

As one of those victims, Felicia, 40-whose story is in Hulu's Feb. 9 docuseries Stolen Youth: Inside the Cult at Sarah Lawrence-is finally talking about the more than 10 years she lost in the cult. Here, her story in her own words.