Sarah Lawrence ‘sex cult’ leader Larry Ray allegedly tortured victim in hotel for hours

Claudia Drury testified that alleged Sarah Lawrence intercourse cult chief Larry Ray tortured her for hours however stopped to eat burgers and fries.
Alec Tabak for NY Publish

Accused Sarah Lawrence sex-cult chief Larry Ray allegedly tortured considered one of his victims for hours, suffocating her with a plastic bag after binding her to a resort chair — and at one level stopped to have burgers and fries together with his prime lieutenant throughout the abuse, a witness testified Thursday. 

The alleged sufferer, Claudia Drury, 31, detailed the horrific, seven-hour torture session underneath questioning by a federal prosecutor at Ray’s racketeering and sex-trafficking trial in Manhattan federal court docket. 

Drury mentioned Ray grew to become enraged at her in October 2018 after she advised considered one of her “most important shoppers,” whom she recognized as a person named Stuart Piltch, that Ray revealed his identify on a web site related along with her work as a prostitute. 

When he came upon Drury advised Piltch concerning the web site, Ray and his alleged confederate, Isabella Pollok, got here to the Gregory Lodge in Midtown, the place she was residing and assembly shoppers, and started to torture her, she advised jurors.   

Claudia Drury alleged that Larry Ray handcuffed her to a chair, suffocated her with a plastic bag and tortured her in different methods for seven hours.

Alec Tabak for NY Publish

Within the room, Ray advised Drury to strip bare, then cuffed her palms and legs to a chair with handcuffs that she had to make use of as props along with her johns, she mentioned in court docket. 

Over the following seven hours, Ray repeatedly suffocated her with plastic baggage, dumped water on her bare physique and pushed her close to the room’s air conditioner, and smothered her with a pillow. 

“I used to be suffocating. I used to be terrified. I used to be trembling. You may’t breathe. You wish to breathe loads. That simply makes it a lot worse. It was terrifying,” she advised jurors of the alleged sadistic abuse. 

Claudia Drury claimed that Larry Ray grew to become enraged along with her after she revealed to considered one of her shoppers that Ray revealed his identify on-line on a web site related along with her prostitution actions.

At one level throughout the torture session, Ray put a collar on Drury’s neck and tightened it with a leash till she practically handed out, she mentioned. 

Pollok allegedly taunted Drury throughout the abuse, telling her that she was a “faker” and that the water Ray poured over her to decrease her physique temperature was “room temperature.” 

Sooner or later throughout the alleged torture session, Ray and Pollok stopped and ate dinner, Drury mentioned. 

“They ordered burgers and fries from a diner close by, the Starlight Diner,” she mentioned.  

Claudia Drury (pictured) alleged that she was tortured by Larry Ray and his confederate Isabella Pollok.

Throughout her testimony, Drury described the checklist of her “most important shoppers” that was imagined to be filed underneath seal at trial, however was inadvertently revealed by the US Lawyer’s Workplace. 

Drury mentioned she compiled the checklist after asking her shoppers to e-mail her from skilled emails, so she may confirm their identities. 

Larry wished the checklist so he may have leverage over the lads and threaten to tell their wives, Drury testified. 

The specter of that made Drury really feel “very, very scared and anxious, virtually greater than anything,” she testified. 

Claudia Drury testified that her interactions with a few of her johns had been the one optimistic social interactions she’d had in her life.

“I didn’t wish to get different individuals concerned on this. I felt accountable,” she mentioned, including that she developed emotions for a lot of her shoppers. 

“It was the one time I had optimistic social interplay in my life,” she mentioned of her time with a few of her common shoppers. 

Throughout cross-examination, considered one of Ray’s protection attorneys, Marne Lenox, tried to color Drury as an uncredible witness. 

Lenox performed for jurors a recording of Drury claiming she was confronted by a lot of males in Manhattan who jumped out of a van and advised her they'd a message for Ray from somebody he believed was making an attempt to harm him. 

Isabella Pollok’s attorneys advised The Publish that she has pleaded not responsible to the costs in opposition to her.

Drury admitted in her testimony that the confrontation by no means really happened. 

Ray is charged with racketeering, intercourse trafficking and a number of different crimes in a 17-count indictment. If convicted, he faces a most of life in jail. 

Prosecutors alleged Ray began a intercourse cult with a gaggle of faculty college students after shifting into his daughter’s on-campus dorm at Sarah Lawrence in 2010. He’s pleaded not responsible. 

In an e-mail to The Publish, an legal professional for Pollok mentioned she has pleaded not responsible to the costs she faces for her alleged function within the prison enterprise. 

“That's my solely remark at the moment,” legal professional David Bertan mentioned. 

The Publish reached out to a cellphone quantity listed for Stuart Piltch, which was not returned.