Harvard grad says ‘sex cult’ leader forced her to wear diapers, use pacifier

Ben Feuerherd and Maggie Hicks

NY Post

March 28, 2022 

Harvard grad says ‘sex cult’ leader forced her to wear diapers, use pacifier 

A Harvard grad testified in Manhattan court Monday that she was forced to wear diapers and suck on a pacifier thanks to accused Sarah Lawrence sex-cult leader Larry Ray. 

Felicia Rosario, 39, told a federal jury that Ray’s abuse of her also included him binding her with zip ties and duct-taping her mouth — in addition to urging her to have sex with strangers and record the encounters for his pleasure.  

“I felt completely humiliated, degraded, debased – like I was nothing. Like I was dumb-looking, worthless,” Rosario told jurors about her relationship with Ray, under questioning by federal prosecutor Mollie Bracewell.  

Rosario — whose brother testified earlier this month that Ray forced him to wear diapers, too — said she was drawn under the older man’s influence after being introduced to him by her brother in the fall of 2011 while she was working to finish her medical degree at Columbia University. She had already graduated from Harvard University. 

Soon after, their relationship turned “romantic,” she said, and Rosario moved into Ray’s Upper East Side apartment, where her brother, Santos, and other Sarah Lawrence students were living with the accused cult leader.  

At the apartment, Ray forced her to sleep nude with him and his alleged cohort, Isabella Pollok, she testified.  

Ray also became physically and mentally abusive, at times binding her with zip ties, duct tape and beating her, Rosario said.  

“He would tie me up with zip ties at my ankles and wrists … have someone else in the apartment watch over me to make sure I didn’t get up,” she told jurors.  

“He punched me in the face. Slapped me. Pulled me by the hair. Punched me in the stomach. Choked me. Punched me in the head,” she added. 

Ray asserted control over Rosario by convincing her that she owed him hundreds of thousands of dollars and threatening to have her and her siblings put in prison through his apparent contacts in law enforcement, she said. 

He also infantilized and ridiculed Rosario, forcing her to wear a diaper on one occasion and ordering her to suck on a pacifier in the apartment, the witness testified.   

“I had to use it. Put it in my mouth. Keep it in my mouth,” she said of the pacifier. 

During their first several years together, Ray also ordered her to go out and meet strangers at bars in New York and have sex with them or perform oral sex on them, she said.  

In some instances, Ray sent Pollok with Rosario so she could record the sexual encounters, Rosario told jurors.  

When asked how the random sex with strangers made her feel, Rosario responded: “Disgusting, ashamed, embarrassed, not human, used, trash, small.” 

Ray used the explicit recordings as collateral over Rosario, she testified.  

“He would threaten me with them,” she said, alleging that he said he would distribute them to alumni of both Harvard and Columbia. 

He said that “eventually, he would send it to the medical licensing board so I could never practice medicine,” she claimed.  

He also ordered her to perform oral sex on Pollok and himself, she testified.  

Ray is accused of racketeering and sex trafficking in a 17-count indictment brought by federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York.  

Prosecutors allege Ray created a cult-like criminal enterprise after moving into his daughter’s on-campus dorm at Sarah Lawrence and asserting control over her friends and roommates. He has pleaded not guilty.  

He faces a maximum sentence of life in prison if convicted. 

Pollok, a former Sarah Lawrence student, will face a separate trial in Manhattan federal court. She has also pleaded not guilty. 

https://nypost.com/2022/03/28/sex-cult-leader-forced-harvard-grad-to-wear-diapers-court/

CultNEWS101 Articles: 9/29/2021 (Covert Emotional Abuse (CEA), Vatican, Opus Dei, Sarah Lawrence College, Larry Ray)

Covert Emotional Abuse (CEA), Vatican, Opus Dei, Sarah Lawrence College, Larry Ray

Still Quiet Place: See It. Stop It. Heal It: Ending Cycles of Abuse in Sports and Society

"No athlete, no child, no human being should have to endure abuse in pursuit of their dreams. Yet, as the courageous Senate testimony of world class gymnasts Simone Biles, Aly Raisman, Maggie Nichols, and McKayla Maroney demonstrated, abuse is all too common. Ms. Biles gave voice to the visceral agony of the victims "The scars of this horrific abuse continue to live with all of us."

Thus, it is imperative that children and adults learn to recognize and prevent all forms of abuse in sports and society. Focusing on egregious sexual abuse and the flagrant failures of USA Gymnastics, the United Sates Olympic and Paralympic Committee, and the FBI, is way too little and way too late.

As with other epidemics, emotional, physical, and sexual abuse can be stopped. Together, we can create comprehensive systems of prevention, so that no one has to suffer the injuries and live with the scars of abuse, much less reopen those wounds in front of the U.S. Senate.

Covert emotional abuse (CEA) is almost always the initial form of abuse, and it all too often leads to physical and sexual abuse. CEA is a tightly woven, almost invisible spider's web meant to ensnare and control the victim. My intention is to make the web, patterns, and shimmering threads of CEA visible so we can see it, stop it, and heal it, individually and collectively.

My analysis and recommendations are informed by diagnostic criteria of both emotional abuse in sport and spiritual abuse is well-documented examples of CEA in sports, and my experience with a covert emotionally abusive coach. As a physician, mindfulness coach, and former Stanford gymnast, my life's purpose is preventing and relieving suffering, and supporting people (particularly athletes),enhancing their well-being and finding joy and flow."

Out: Priest Arrested After Using Parish Money to Fund Gay Sex Parties

"A Catholic priest in Italy has been arrested and accused of stealing over $100,000 from his parish which he then used to fund drug-fueled gay sex parties with his roommate.

Father Francesco Spagnesi, 40, was put on house arrest after authorities received a tip that his roommate was buying and importing the date-rape drug GHB, which they then sold to guests at his sex parties. According to Corriere, Spagnesi allegedly confessed to his lawyers and has promised to make full restitution to the parishioners he victimized.

"So much pain," Bishop Giovanni Nerbini said in a videotaped message to parishioners at the Annunciation at Castellina after news of Spagnesi's arrest broke earlier this month.

Nerbini said church leaders became suspicious last spring about financial transfers from the parish coffers to Spagnesi. When he confronted the popular priest, Nerbini explained, "I was told that it was aid for needy people in the parish."

As the internal investigation unfolded, however, he was forced to relieve Spagnesi of both his ministerial and fiduciary responsibilities at the parish. He then gave the priest a year-long sabbatical.

"In my heart, I wanted to save the person," Nerbini said.

According to La Nazione, Spagnesi experienced a difficult past and had become addicted to drugs about two years ago. They also reported the Spagnesi had been sexually and romantically involved with a childhood friend for the past seven years.

Police became involved in the investigation following the tip of Spagnesi's roommate being in possession of various amounts of drugs. Prosecutors alleged he purchased the drugs both online from The Netherlands and local dealers, and the drugs were then sold to gay men attending their private group sex parties, which were also arranged online. According to TV Prato, investigators believe up to 200 men may have been involved in these parties."

Grunge: THE MESSED UP TRUTH ABOUT OPUS DEI

" ... Let's take a look at exactly what Opus Dei says they are, and what their critics and former members claim they are. Opus Dei says that they're essentially an organization that provides guidelines on how Christian laypeople can live "a life fully consistent with their faith, in the middle of ordinary circumstances of their lives." That involves things like "divine filiation," embracing Christian values like "charity, patience, humility, diligence, integrity, [and] cheerfulness," prayer, the offering of sacrifices, and "sanctifying work," which means work that's done "ethically."

That sounds not-so-bad, but like anything involving people, it gets very complicated very quickly. Opus Dei has claimed to be different things over the years: NPR says it's currently defined as a "personal prelature," but it's also been called things like a "secular institute" and a "priestly society of common life without vows." Both laypeople and clergy are members, new members are usually recruited by existing members, and when joining Opus Dei, a contract is signed promising (in part): "with firm resolve I dedicate myself to pursue sanctity and to practice apostolate with all my energy."

Critics, however, accuse Opus Dei of being everything up to and including a right-wing cult. Take, for example, a joke published in the magazine Tablet: 'How many members of Opus Dei does it take to screw in a lightbulb? The answer is, 100... one to screw in the lightbulb, and 99 to chant, 'We are not a movement, we are not a movement.''"

NY Post: 'I went to Sarah Lawrence and unwittingly joined a dangerous sex cult'

" ... In the apartment, Ray forced his charges to listen to his favorite music, like Neil Young and The Who, telling them the songs had "magic powers." He advised Isabella that her birth control pills were making her depressed and complained that the underage girls living with him weren't washing their genitals properly.

"You wouldn't believe how many women hate, hate their vaginas," Ray told Levin, before launching into a lecture about the best lubricants for masturbation and the importance of having sex in public.

People are so negative about the word 'brainwashing.' I don't see what's wrong with it. That is what I'm doing. I'm washing your brains.

"It'll be good for you," he told Levin. "It can be with anyone."

But Ray would explode at the smallest perceived betrayal, like the time one of his kitchen pans had a mysterious scratch.

"You scraped it on purpose, as hard as you could?" Ray screamed at Levin. "What were you thinking about? Mommy and Daddy?"

The threats became more ominous.

"I see you, Danny," Ray told him one time. "I know when you say something against me, when you doubt me, when you fear me. I see it. I see your fear."

Within just a year of moving in, Levin already wanted to leave, but he worried that Ray wasn't bluffing and really did have powerful friends.

Once, when he was chauffeuring Ray around Manhattan and their path was blocked by a parade route, the older man called over a police officer and whispered something — and suddenly they were waved through."

News, Education, Intervention, Recovery

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Intervention101.com to help families and friends understand and effectively respond to the complexity of a loved one's cult involvement.

CultRecovery101.com assists group members and their families make the sometimes difficult transition from coercion to renewed individual choice.

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Please forward articles that you think we should add to cultintervention@gmail.com.

CultNEWS101 Articles: 9/28/2021

Covert Emotional Abuse (CEA), QAnon, Unification Church, Podcast, Butoh, Butoh, Collections

Psychology Today: Ending Cycles of Abuse in Sports and Society

" ... No athlete, no child, no human being should have to endure abuse in pursuit of their dreams. Yet, as the courageous Senate testimony of world-class gymnasts Simone Biles, Aly Raisman, Maggie Nichols, and McKayla Maroney recently demonstrated, abuse is all too common. Ms. Biles gave voice to the visceral agony of the victims: "The scars of this horrific abuse continue to live with all of us.

It is imperative that children and adults learn to recognize and prevent all forms of abuse in sports and society. Focusing on the egregious sexual abuse and the flagrant failures of USA Gymnastics, the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee, and the FBI are way too little and way too late.

As with other epidemics, emotional, physical, and sexual abuse can be stopped. Together, we can create comprehensive systems of prevention, so that no child has to suffer the injuries and live with the scars of abuse, reopen their wounds in front of the U.S. Senate.

Covert emotional abuse (CEA) is almost always the initial form of abuse, and it all too often leads to physical and sexual abuse. CEA is a tightly woven, almost invisible spider's web meant to ensnare and control the victim. My intention is to make the web, patterns, and shimmering threads of CEA visible so we can see it, stop it, and heal it."

QAnon Anonymous: Episode 160: The Moonies Conquer DC feat Elgen Strait

"A Korean cult leader with various sex crime allegations kicks off a relationship with Richard Nixon. Before you know it, a chain of Republican Presidents embrace the Unification Church (AKA "the moonies") and The Washington Times is born. Most recently, a splinter group of the cult — which has been manufacturing AR-15s — ends up participating in the January 6th storming of the capitol. Plus, we speak to Elgen Strait of the Falling Out Podcast about his life growing up in the Unification Church and ultimately deciding to leave it — and how the anti-communist, alt-Christianity promoted by "the moonies" is a blueprint for today's far-right media landscape."

Tricycle: The Dangerous Art of Depersonalization

What psychedelics, psychosis, and mindfulness can teach us about no-self, and why set and setting play such an important role in ego deconstruction.

"In  April 2012 a dancer named Sharon Stern committed suicide. Stern was deeply committed to the Buddhist-influenced Japanese dance form of Butoh, in which mastery involves surrendering parts of the self. Prior to her suicide Stern was exhibiting mental instability, including worrisome signs of depersonalization, a condition marked by a sense of detachment from one's body and thoughts. As Stern's devotion to Butoh grew, so did her inability to identify as an individual with a history, personality, or future. She began writing emails in the third person, and as Rachel Aviv detailed in The New Yorker, in one of Stern's last emails to her teacher, she asked, "So the question arises what happens AFTER the deconstruction of your body/mind/ego?"

It's a question that has both inspired and haunted seekers for millennia. The deconstruction of the ego can lead to the type of transcendent oneness that is a hallmark of a profound spiritual experience, or to the type of destabilizing freefall that is a hallmark of severe mental illness or a bad psychedelic trip. As the case of Sharon Stern and others have shown, mental illness or psychedelics aren't the only gateway to destabilization. Contemplative practice can lead there, too. Conversely, just as contemplative practice can lead to radical understanding, so too can mental illness or psychedelics.

A recent revival of scientific research on psychedelics, which was barred from the halls of academia in the late seventies, has allowed researchers to study the brains of people undergoing experiences of ego deconstruction. In How to Change Your Mind, author Michael Pollan explains that while participants are undergoing drug-induced mystical experiences in a lab setting, "imaging tools can observe changes in the brain's activity and patterns of connection. Already this work is yielding surprising insights into the 'neural correlates' of the sense of self and spiritual experience." A similar mental mapping has occurred in research around both meditation and psychosis. By examining how depersonalization unfolds in the brains of meditators, during psychedelic experiences, and through psychosis, we can better understand why depersonalization can be a vector for both the profound and for profound loss, and perhaps learn how such an experience can be better integrated into one's life."

CultNEWS101: Conspiracy Theories Collection (55 articles)

CultNEWS101: QAnon Collection (60 articles)

News, Education, Intervention, Recovery

CultEducationEvents.com

CultMediation.com   

Intervention101.com to help families and friends understand and effectively respond to the complexity of a loved one's cult involvement.

CultRecovery101.com assists group members and their families make the sometimes difficult transition from coercion to renewed individual choice.

CultNEWS101.com news, links, resources.

Facebook

Flipboard

Twitter

Instagram

Cults101.org resources about cults, cultic groups, abusive relationships, movements, religions, political organizations and related topics.

Selection of articles for CultNEWS101 does not mean that Patrick Ryan or Joseph Kelly agree with the content. We provide information from many points of view in order to promote dialogue.

Please forward articles that you think we should add to cultintervention@gmail.com.

Ending Cycles of Abuse in Sports and Society: See it, stop it, heal it.

Amy Saltzman M.D.
Psychology Today
September 23, 2021

"No athlete, no child, no human being should have to endure abuse in pursuit of their dreams. Yet, as the courageous Senate testimony of world-class gymnasts Simone Biles, Aly Raisman, Maggie Nichols, and McKayla Maroney recently demonstrated, abuse is all too common. Ms. Biles gave voice to the visceral agony of the victims: “The scars of this horrific abuse continue to live with all of us.

It is imperative that children and adults learn to recognize and prevent all forms of abuse in sports and society. Focusing on the egregious sexual abuse and the flagrant failures of USA Gymnastics, the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee, and the FBI are way too little and way too late.

As with other epidemics, emotional, physical, and sexual abuse can be stopped. Together, we can create comprehensive systems of prevention, so that no child has to suffer the injuries and live with the scars of abuse, reopen their wounds in front of the U.S. Senate.

Covert emotional abuse (CEA) is almost always the initial form of abuse, and it all too often leads to physical and sexual abuse. CEA is a tightly woven, almost invisible spider’s web meant to ensnare and control the victim. My intention is to make the web, patterns, and shimmering threads of CEA visible so we can see it, stop it, and heal it." [ ... ]

Amy Saltzman, M.D., is a holistic physician, mindfulness coach, athlete, devoted student of transformation, wife, mother, and occasional poet. Her passion is supporting people of all ages in enhancing health, experiencing joy, and finding flow.

Online: Still Quiet Place