I do hope all of these people would eventually realise that they'd all been told literally the exact same thing...and then start to question the fact....
instantly become obsessed, binge watching them daily!! I would love you to cover the NXIVM cult. I have watched all the documentaries and it is SOOO interesting, definitely a two parter. I would love to hear it from your perspective 😍
Thank you for acknowledging the fact that people that are 18-19 may be of age but they are still impressionable. That means a lot to me as someone who was abused by a much older man at that age.
I'm 35 and I consider 18-19 still effectively a child. While anyone can be abused by anyone and you don't need an "excuse" to have been a victim (!!), yes, that is definitely young enough that lack of life experience alone is an easy vehicle for grooming.
@@SpecialBlanket We probably shouldn’t act like age is the key factor. There’s ton of younger people who manipulate and control older people who have weaknesses/issues. Like younger woman who use the influence and power of looks/sex to manipulate men. This one sided logic application is wrong.
Age isn't always the key factor of showing one's impressionability, but unless you can visibly tell the individual is years beyond their experience, is able to enter into serious agreements with full understanding (not just signing on in agreement, but actively and consciously being aware of their decisions), then their age should serve as a default understanding we as a society should be able to agree upon when approaching concerning topics. Key word being "should".
If this is to be held as valid, should we also take away the right to vote from 18-19 year olds? Cuz I support that 100%. But until ppl want to be consistent, 18-19 is a full fledged adult and if they can be trusted to vote, they should be able make good decisions. If not, which is totally fine, they shouldn’t be allowed to vote until they’re more mature and less able to be easily manipulated.
Larry’s ability to manipulate and brainwash people so quickly is utterly terrifying. This man is a very dangerous type of person and I feel so horrible for those who were affected by this disturbing creep and my heart goes out to them.
Yes, but the more I think about it, the more it was about choosing the right victim. They were all smart, but post-modern (not real anchors on truth) and highly manipulable. He came across them because his daughter had vouched for him, and Santos, who was a sweet kid just wanting to help his sisters, vouched for him before he realized what was going on. Remember that not everybody fell for Larry, most of the students at their dorm didn’t. They believed in him intensely, but it was a small number of them.
@@nolacanola Although when they find out what he was in for, the abuse could go the other way. They don't care for sexual predators such as rapists and pimps in prison. Especially when they pray on women.
When you go to college you’re supposed to have an open mind to mold /manipulate makes sense- of course non college ppl are just as susceptible but college they thrive on expanding their thinking so why not listen to him
the fact that a doctor of psychiatry fell for his lovebombing is so crazy to me. like he clearly was such a manipulative psycho. i feel so incredibly bad for these kids and i know people probably victim blamed them so hard because they think “who would fall for this” you’d be surprised
People act like doctors are these perfect, intelligent, unbiased human beings who can never be tricked or fooled. Which is just ridiculous. They're just as human as the rest of us, and are just as likely to fall for abusive and manipulative tactics.
This is so crazy! I can’t believe the control he apparently had over his daughter…. The fact that she knew all of this was happening but just moved out and moved on without ever looking back or trying to help a single one of the victims who she brought into his life to begin with! You’re one of my faves Sommer, keep up the good work!!!
She moved out, but that doesn't mean that her mind was fully free. It sounds like she never saw him as having done anything wrong. Just dad being dad again. She was raised by him, so his behavior would have seemed pretty normal to her.
I think they all have a measure of religiosity to them. They consider a person as their leader who they owe their lives to. And these leaders are in fact, malevolent.
The more I educate myself about cult dynamics the more I realise that I was brought up in a high control family, went into a high control marriage and even one of my jobs was very cult-like.
I recently had a conversation with a friend who went through the same thing as you, and she realized it at the age of 68. It is all about control, and control is not identified enough as the largest human addiction. Big hug to you and may you find your way to the nectar of freedom and self-sovereignty.
@@philosopher2king This is true. This control is brought about by so many factors. Even when we tell people how we think they should live or what we think they should do is a form of this control. It is a scary thing when you figure it out. It can take a long time to realise. Your friend is lucky, many go to the grave never understanding their life and beliefs were not their own.
I’m still not sure if Isabella should be forgiven. I think the moment she turned from a victim into an accomplice is when she started assisting in Larry’s abuse and mooching off of the extortion money. Even if she was brainwashed, it seems like she secretly enjoyed the attention and benefits of being Larry’s favorite, and only turned on him by the end to save her own ass.
I agree. None of the others helped with the torture and abuses. I feel like she should have gotten 10 yrs at the very least. I think that could have balanced things out a bit. Is it enough? I don’t know. But what she got wasn’t.
Absolutely insane how he managed to control them. Both men & women, young & old, free to go to & from school/work, even took them to a different state, & still were under his control. Wow!!
This case scares me. How was he allowed to live in the house at Sarah Lawrence? I’m so surprised that this ever happened. My daughter is a sophomore at university on the West Coast and during her freshman year she had to live in a dorm. We kept a close eye on her. We made sure to meet her roommate’s parents. In fact, they are still roommates now that they have an apartment in off campus student housing. But I digress, these videos are so disturbing. So many things have happened lately that make me even more protective of our daughter. I realize she’s an adult and there’s only so much that I can do but I have made sure she’s aware of her surroundings.
Your wonderful to do all that you can do. My son is 36 and its still just as hard. Now he has two girls and he's just as cautious with them as i was with him. And hes a big guy he could have made short work of me when he was twelve. I'm so proud of who he has become, but he's always going to be my boy. 👍😊
I went to college outside my hometown between 1974 to '78. We were safe living on campus dorms and on the private owned ones. Recently had a glimpse of a serie on ID channel called Murder at the dorms. I was 😱. These Ray's case is disturbing. Can't understand why the young MD got caught on that BS.
When I was in college, my roommate's boyfriend basically moved into our dorm room. Honestly, he was a cool guy and we all got along and it took months before we realized he basically came over one day and never left lol But we all also realized that the three of us got lucky none of us were insane or very toxic. That could have gotten real bad.
@@SpecialBlanket My roommate's BF actually did go to school there and had a room on campus. I think the bigger problem is in these more independent student housing situations because there aren't RAs there
Oh, he wasn't sleeping on the couch. They gave him an extra room. And at the next place, he and his two GFs got their own room and bed, while everybody else crashed on the floor in the next room. He maned to immediately manipulate the situation so that he looked like he had it complexly together, at least to them.
I think this is a perfect example how even vulnerable young adults can fall victim to manipulation. This is a literal example of grooming. It goes to show that even adults can be groomed especially those between the ages 18-22 who are still very young. He made them all feel special and made them see him as a "cool dad" when in reality he was just gaining their trust in order to exploit them. They all were already in vulnerable places in their life (dealing with their sexuality, family problems, etc) which is what made it easier for them to trust him. He took advantage of their vulnerability.
Even vulnerable young adults can fall victim..... why would you say even young adults. It's always young adults 99.9% of the time. A perfect example. Haha every example is the same as the last one cause they all have young adults.. haha even young adults.
I don't think I've ever encountered a story so similar to what happened to me before. My abuser was a "counselor" who used our "therapy" sessions to brainwash and sexually abuse me. He had a whole religion to go with it and convinced me he could read minds and had other powers. There was no money extortion or physical violence, but the constant communication and "therapy" that he used to keep pushing the envelope is soooo similar.
@midge j No, unfortunately. It took me many many years to even begin to realize that it was abuse because I was so entrenched. Statute of limitations expired for criminal charges before I told anyone about it. My state has opened a one year window to file civil charges and I have until November of this year to decide if I want to pursue those charges or not. But even if a jury finds him liable it only means possibly a monetary payout, he wouldn't face jail time. And that's assuming I even have a case, I didn't save any evidence so it would be purely my word against his, not exactly a strong case.
@paradisedreaming6363 He's not, and I doubt he was licensed to begin with. He was a "spiritual counselor" who got ordained online, claimed to have a Doctorate as well but it was probably just a fraudulent one he printed out. He didn't have much of any kind of online presence and gained all his "clients" through word-of-mouth.
I have watched a three part documentary on Hulu. How fast he was able to manipulate his daughters friends was scary. This just showed me it could happen to anyone. I was shocked when Larry videotaped the abuse. I hope everyone is able to get the help to deal with the abuse from Larry.
I’ve always watched True Crime shows. This gal is by far, the most articulate presenter, no idle thoughts or fillers, just the facts, spoken so clearly. Excellent presentation !! ♥️
Hearing the amount of money claudia gave larry is heartbreaking. She could have bought a nice house and car with that money! She must have work so hard and so many hours to get that, and not even be able to keep it. I really hope she is doing well and is able to heal from this.
Sarah Lawrence has a lot of answer for. Allowing a parent to crash their student housing? How does that happen?? Especially a guy with a spotty record living with young women?
This was intense. I don't know what to make of any of this. I think with Sarah Lawrence the apartments were student housing but not dorms so they weren't heavily supervised and maybe that's why he was able to live there. This whole thing is just sad and bizarre.
Super creepy and inappropriate that the father, Larry, moved into the college house with his daughter and her friends. Is that even allowed by a college university? This man is a monster!!! And I'm only ten minutes into the video!!! Pure evil. It's so disturbing how Larry brainwashed and manipulated the students. Did Larry have a job?? How was he getting by financially?
Sommer, you are so amazingly kind to always warn us before showing or talking about graphic content. I really appreciate this, rather than trying to go for shock value or extra drama that can be triggering for some of us. That’s why I go for your content before anything else!
I don’t know how I came across your channel last week! I’ve watched all of your videos! I believe the Alamo Cult has really effected me the most. I wanted to say thank you for your dedication to your videos, channel and viewers for all of the research you clearly put yourself through! Also, for your emotional ties you have with each story! I tell my wife about all of these stories and I will re-listen to parts with her! Great channel!! Thank you Sommer!!
Not really, most people have something that they keep hidden. It can be something they lived or something they wonder about. If someone starts to act as if only they can help and understand, then the grooming begins.
Doesn't make them damaged as so much makes him an incredibly skilled manipulator. He had an impressive history of already, with grown intelligent men. Even a psyc eval concluded so.
Universities have campus police for a reason, and abundance of different resource offices (wether helpful or truly plentiful/available argueable) in charge of aiding safety and qualify of life for their students even though they're most legal age. Just because they have legal freedoms doesn't mean they don't deserve protections from the place they pay for their own higher education & personal development. Guess in 2011, I'm grateful PA wouldn't even allow female sorority houses or learn of college cults until this video.
Only half way through, basically meant to say while yes it's on Larry & others involved for what they do - the school still bears a responsibility for keeping a safe environment & whateverbgoes on on their campus for a decade. However thought Summer said they moved to Manhattan apt fairly right off so maybe not much happened at the U itself just their students.
I think that his daughter should have been charged with the same charges as her father!!! YOU can see that she really helps him with the enjoyment and Gratitude of hurting others. It's like she got off on it almost. If you watch the videos you can see the father and daughter would work together as a team!!! I'm soooooooo confused with why she's not going to get any jail time for her vicious acts that she was more than willing to take part in!!!SMH???
This video is so strange to watch for me because it hits entirely too close to home & I wasn’t expecting that at all. My family is Italian & from Brooklyn. Most families like theirs & like mine have Mob/Mafia ties & have crossed paths one way or another. All of these faces & names are SO familiar to me but somehow I’ve never heard about this! You’re awesome, Sommer! I really love your storytelling. Keep up the good work girl 💜
Isabella absolutely deserved to go to jail. I get she was manipulated at first, but she participated in extortion and torture. I don't have an opinion on how long her sentence t, but if I were a victim, I probably would.
It's so weird that he was shaping their sense of reality like play-doh. How did he learn how to do this? When I sense that someone is trying to manipulate me, I just back away and try to avoid them.
From my understanding, this is something that cannot be taught to someone, not fully anyway, and it is something that must be practiced all the time. You know those “behavioral expert” channels? Larry is like them but with no morality. It is also not that difficult to understand, everyone has what is known as “tells”. These are things that people do when they are being emotional. Mind you, I am using the term “emotional” differently than what most people think of. It doesn’t necessarily mean being outwardly upset, angry, happy, etc. When someone experiences any form of emotion, it will appear on their face. (Do note that there are those who don’t wear emotion on their face or even express it at all) Let’s say you are angry. Your first thought might be that it is written on your face which is true, however, with tells it isn’t just your face, it is how you carry your body, the tone in your voice, what position your hands are in. There is a wide range of how you express being angry. That is how Larry does this, he sits back and watches how a person reacts down to the most minute detail. The fact that he was able to do this with a trained psychologist, is not unheard of. The fact that the psychologist was still able to realize what was happening was a good thing. It’s when you don’t realize it’s happening that it can become dangerous. People like Larry are looking for the broken, the downtrodden, the ones that appear curious. Even the ones that were hesitant about him had already been curious thanks to his daughter. She had already been planting seeds without realizing it so when he finally showed up, no matter if they were stand offish, their curiosity had already been peaked. And that is the key: Larry needs people who are broken in one way or another. They could come from a nice and loving home, but they also might have this little seed of doubt within them. People like Larry hones in on this and uses it to their advantage. A group who usually uses these techniques the most are con artists. Edit to Add: I just remembered something and it is key to how Larry did all this. Time and patience. It might seem that it happened quickly but in reality it didn’t. He spent hours with them. *Hours.* Constantly talking. And they made the logical mistake of responding. If they had just shut down (allowed their minds to wander) and/or not responded to him, Larry wouldn’t have had any means to get to their weak points. He would listen and watch for a tell then use it to get to them mentally. I have a feeling that when Larry first arrived, all that cleaning he did was a means to listen to them. I bet he had them pegged within a few days. So really it wasn’t “too fast”, from the moment he had brainwashed his daughter and she moved in with them, he was already beginning the process. I bet he asked her questions about her friends and she readily told him. Then he arrived and didn’t start right away. He cleaned up after them, he slept on the couch, he did all this to pick up on anything his daughter left out. It’s scarily brilliant.
"Predator, inappropriate, power imbalance, gaslighting, narcissist, undue influence, sex trafficking, creepy uncle vibe, self harm"-----didn't even have these cautionary WORDS or phrases in that era :(
Felicia was supposed to be a professional, graduating Harvard and this man cracked her after a few hours during dinner while her siblings were also there. Damn.
This is the part that’s hard for me to wrap my head around. Like she graduated medical school studying PSYCHOLOGY and he still broke her. Pretty scary tbh
The older I get the more I realise that school smart definitely does not sum up to any kid of street smarts. I have witnessed really intelligent women fall the absolute dumbest lies all in the name of looking for love.
It's insane that this guy was able to completely fool and manipulate not only college students but older adults as well _and_ that the psychologist who surveyed him even said that the most experienced psychologists wouldn't be able to diagnose him because he was so manipulative. Hell, he even had lawn enforcement thinking he was ratting on that deal with the Gambino family for a time when really he was directly involved in it. Not to mention that he was able to perform real life "inception," even though they were college kids, but dude was straight implanting ideas in their brains to make them think or do certain things and he didn’t even need a sci-fi dreaming machine. Some people are just master manipulators- though I wouldn't say he was _that_ good to deserve such a title but he was pretty close. Unfortunately for him, his greed kept getting in the way and he pushed it too far so that almost everyone left. Usually a master manipulator (Charles Manson, for instance, who had people kill for him) is able to keep their followers around, to keep them loyal enough that they'll kill or even die (Jim Jones) for them. Larry was not quite on that level and thank goodness for that. Still, I'm sure his victims have done a lot of beating themselves up for getting into such an awful situation, and I seriously hope they're healing and doing ok. This case really shows that anyone can end up in a cult. Of course there are those that are much more vulnerable to ending up in high control groups but as a whole, no matter what you may think, no one is immune from them. As many cult experts say, no one intends to end up in a cult. All it takes is the right person saying the right things at a moment where you happen to be at the right level of vulnerability and then the next thing you know you're wondering how the hell the last six months even happened.
Wow! I had hoped Isabella would be spending time in a hospital specially equiped with de-programming therapy, as probably all of his victims should have been, for repairing their mental health. Retired RN
You do an excellent job of showing the gradual build up to his control over them. I watched a video on this previously, and while the video was well done, it gave more of an impression that he started more abusive patterns and actions immediately. A lot of the people in the comments were bashing the victims for being stupid and easily controlled, and were saying that they didn't feel sorry for the victims.
I had only heard of this in the headlines but didn't know any details. Thanks for covering the story. It's just unbelievable for so many reasons. Excellent job, as always!
Summer, thank you so much for covering this story! I've been super interested in learning about it. I started several other videos prior to yours but had to stop watching them midway because I kept getting lost!! You did a great job explaining everything in detail yet making it possible for me to follow and understand what was going on. You are incredible! 😊
It's difficult to judge Isabella's case when you consider how he broke down everyone else as well, even the more mature and Harvard educated psychology graduate. It seems like Isabella is only apologetic now that she's been found guilty though. I don't get how she justified to herself that pimping out her friend and torturing her was anything other than wrong. She obviously needs a ton of professional mental health treatment.
What an extraordinary story. Thank you for your clear & concise storytelling. I did watch a TV doco on this last week and was totally confused. How can seemingly intelligent people abandon their critical thinking and moral stance? I know it's not unique with all the cults in the world but yeah absolutely extraordinary.
What an evil, evil man. To think that he convinced those kids that they had been abused by their parents. And to think he implanted all those false memories so quickly, its truly frightening.
Imagine. What is going on in college campuses with teachers as well. See they want to teach the kids individuality they remove god and family. They are taught nothing good anymore
I've only seen one other channel cover this. It wasn't long or detailed enough, so I've been looking for this case since! This is INSANE it needs way more coverage. As far as cults go, this is definitely the creepiest and weirdest because it occurred on campus with a students father. 😳
Found your channel this morning and I am now 6 hour's deep into your video's. Love your style of reporting, you're incredibly informative and really easy on the ears. I look forward to watching more of your work. Great job!!
I graduated from SLC 10 years before this scandal. It was always a place for creative kids who wanted a small, supportive community in which to thrive. I had a great experience there and am disgusted that a scumbag like Larry Ray was able to insinuate himself into these kids lives and exploit them: It's so nasty.
This was absolutely the most shocking thing i have ever witnessed when I watched the documentary. The reality of brainwashing and mind control is astounding. The poor family was wrecked by him. I’m so glad they made it out.
I know he’s a scumbag for SURE, but I do want to say that adderall is a hell of a drug. When I was addicted, I would question my bf over and over about him cheating with no proof. All day all night it was all I talked about, I was insufferable. As soon as I got clean it stopped completely. I have to wonder if the house damage issue was his sort of obsessive thing. Drugs suck. I have been clean from adderall for several years and never want to go back.
Totally, it upped his paranoia, but he was using the Adderall as a weapon too by feeding it to the kids. The funny thing is I haven't heard anyone talk about how crazy Larry is. He was obsessed with having all the kids confess through letters and emails, it's insane! But like a true sociopath, he was obsessed with his reputation, and in the end, his sick kink for filming his sadistic punishments was all the proof the jury needed to land him in prison for the rest of his life. In short, he was a master manipulator, who was also stupid and addicted.
been here since you uploaded your third video and i haven’t left. i love how you keep the audience engaged as well as delivering as many facts rather than opinions as possible.
I went to school with Bernard Keriks son. I knew his dad was police chief. All this stuff is putting my stomach in knots. Crazy this was happening so close to me!
I love your videos and the way you cover these crimes. I do think that this girl took part in everything so should have gotten a sentence that would keep her from finding another monster as soon as she gets out to start using others to meet her own needs for money and blood.
I really like your videos. You are so respectful to the victims, telling their stories and showing how they suffered and slipped into the traps those perpetrators set up for them. Your channel is different in this from other true crime channels and I like that a lot. I'm always curious about true crime but I rarely watch true crime shows because it's mostly just fixed and perversely celebrating the creeps and criminals, but you're giving a very balanced overview about everything. It's very interesting and respectful.
100% think she should be punished for her participation but I also think she’s probably his biggest victim. He manipulated & brainwashed her her entire life.
Duress describes the act of using force, coercion, threats, or psychological pressure, among other things, to get someone to act against their wishes. If a person is acting under duress, they are not acting of their own free will and so may be treated accordingly in court proceedings.
I read Dan's book and was horrified at what took place. I ended up watching any and everything I could on this story. I may be wrong but I thought one of the young women committed suicide. Anyway, Sommer you did a fantastic job on researching this; it was riveting. Thank you.
@@barbrothers2 Like I said I could be wrong about it but I have this memory of one of the many videos I watched about this, it was a female and one not mentioned a lot. Sorry.
It wasn’t a woman, it was another man who was under Larry’s control and seemed to live in the apartment with them, I really wish I could remember his name but it was a foreign name I’d never heard before. I can’t find it anywhere online right now but I looked up his name after hearing about it in a podcast covering this case!
Isabella helped torture Claudia close to death, but she herself was manipulated and abused into getting to that point, I think a psych hospital would be appropriate, but I won’t say I’m against her being sentenced to prison either, I’m really conflicted on how I feel about her in all of this
Thanks again Sommer for providing a grim but informative cast. This was almost like an episode of friends if David Lynch directed it. Gaslighting in itself is wicked and cruel, but this was on another level. Most telling being that these young folk were not technically vulnerable until he played his evil mind tricks, even the young lady with a psychology background. All the very best.
This is an insane case. I can’t believe I’ve never heard it. It also has some striking similarities to the book The Last Housewife so I’m assuming the book is loosely based on this case. I hope all the victims of this creep are able to come to terms with everything that happened to them. He stole some of their most formative years.
I don’t think she should’ve been sent to prison. I think she should’ve been convicted of all charges & sent to a mental hospital to receive proper care for the abuse, manipulation, and brainwashing.
I just came across your channel and binge watching.. Omg Im so amazed by stuff going on around world or did go on... Love how you tell the stories.. Thankyou so much 💓
They lost 12 years of their lives. There’s so much life that happens in a decade and he robbed them of that. I hope they are able to heal enough to make a life out of their future. Such a heartbreaking case.
I lived with these hosuemates for uni. They were really odd. The guy tried telling me I couldn’t have men over and called me a wh0re for 2 months straight. Even though we had to listen to him have loud sex all day and night. He gave us very strict house rules (for a big uni house it was pretty strict). No mess. What do ever. Don’t leave a single item that belongs to you out. Or they’ll break it or scream at you. (He was allowed to be absolutely disgusting, dirty plates out for weeks, rubbish all over the living room, filled up all the counter space with his stuff, left vomit in our sink once). No noise at all. If you talk too loud, laugh too loud, open and close a door and it makes a noise? Good luck to you. He’ll threaten to burn the house down Come down screaming at you. But he’d keep us up all night slamming the doors, stomping and yelling at all hours to the point we were literally sleep deprived. One time we tried leaving the house without him and his horrible gf. They followed us out and drove around looking for us. I can see how easily you can fall into complying with someone that’s a maniac. It’s a safety thing. Complying is the safest option that doesn’t have a chance to backfire. He had access to us constantly, our items, our space. And as someone that grew up with a angry father. Having someone like that in your home, your one safe space reallybeffects you’re mental health. It wears you down bc you’re always on guard. Additionally, growing up with an angry dad can make things difficult when you’re older, living in a shared accom and this one guy living there is stomping around the house, shouting and swearing and throwing things, suddenly you’re 9 years old again hoping that ur dad won’t turn to you and start on you.
This guy started hating on me first. Everyone else thought he was great and I was just being sensitive. But it was constant. Lots of little things. Hiding my stuff. Always putting my coat on the floor. Using my things and pretending in crazy when I say “don’t touch my stuff”. His gf tried telling me it was my fault because I “don’t like him”. I didn’t like him. But I didn’t act on it. I was just neutral to him. He was very misogynistic. If you were a woman, you either had to fawn all over him, become his mother, be his therapist. Or all three. I didn’t fit into any of that. So I was just “an annoying bitch”. Eventually he couldn’t help himself and started acting like that to the other girls in the house too and then we all kinda stuck together to stay away from him
@@abbiesadler4324 why would you choose to live with him in the first place. He is an old guy. Didn't you think that it was weird for him to live with you?
This is super fascinating and disturbing. Thank you for covering this story and for continuing to cover these stories. I look forward to your next video! ❤
i’m very curious about Talia. i wish we could get to here her perspective on this because clearly he really fucked her up for her to leave and run as far away from the cult as possible and cut any involvement i think out of fear.
Go to curiositystream.thld.co/sommer_0323 and use code SOMMER to save 25% off today. Thanks to Curiosity Stream for sponsoring today’s video!
Hi😊😊😊
I do hope all of these people would eventually realise that they'd all been told literally the exact same thing...and then start to question the fact....
@@simsimafahie4673l❤
instantly become obsessed, binge watching them daily!! I would love you to cover the NXIVM cult. I have watched all the documentaries and it is SOOO interesting, definitely a two parter. I would love to hear it from your perspective 😍
People would be so shocked to know how many small cults are active. There is no way to describe the damage these people bring to other's lives.
Yes! Keep close contact with your loved ones and pay attention to red flags.
Yes my sister just left one
@@lizajane2971 not these days, they are a thing of the past
@@Rusty-Washer What's a thing of the past? Cults? Loved ones? Or red flags? 😆
@@lizajane2971 cults i’d say?
Thank you for acknowledging the fact that people that are 18-19 may be of age but they are still impressionable. That means a lot to me as someone who was abused by a much older man at that age.
I'm 35 and I consider 18-19 still effectively a child. While anyone can be abused by anyone and you don't need an "excuse" to have been a victim (!!), yes, that is definitely young enough that lack of life experience alone is an easy vehicle for grooming.
@@SpecialBlanket We probably shouldn’t act like age is the key factor. There’s ton of younger people who manipulate and control older people who have weaknesses/issues. Like younger woman who use the influence and power of looks/sex to manipulate men. This one sided logic application is wrong.
Was it an older guy who you had a bad break up with?
Age isn't always the key factor of showing one's impressionability, but unless you can visibly tell the individual is years beyond their experience, is able to enter into serious agreements with full understanding (not just signing on in agreement, but actively and consciously being aware of their decisions), then their age should serve as a default understanding we as a society should be able to agree upon when approaching concerning topics. Key word being "should".
If this is to be held as valid, should we also take away the right to vote from 18-19 year olds? Cuz I support that 100%. But until ppl want to be consistent, 18-19 is a full fledged adult and if they can be trusted to vote, they should be able make good decisions. If not, which is totally fine, they shouldn’t be allowed to vote until they’re more mature and less able to be easily manipulated.
The stuff with Talia is a good example of implanting false trauma. You can absolutely convince someone they've been abused.
Larry’s ability to manipulate and brainwash people so quickly is utterly terrifying. This man is a very dangerous type of person and I feel so horrible for those who were affected by this disturbing creep and my heart goes out to them.
I feel bad for the inmates he’s going to abuse in prison too
He is a danger to anyone around him. On the con all the time.
Yes, but the more I think about it, the more it was about choosing the right victim. They were all smart, but post-modern (not real anchors on truth) and highly manipulable. He came across them because his daughter had vouched for him, and Santos, who was a sweet kid just wanting to help his sisters, vouched for him before he realized what was going on. Remember that not everybody fell for Larry, most of the students at their dorm didn’t. They believed in him intensely, but it was a small number of them.
@@nolacanola Although when they find out what he was in for, the abuse could go the other way. They don't care for sexual predators such as rapists and pimps in prison. Especially when they pray on women.
When you go to college you’re supposed to have an open mind to mold /manipulate makes sense- of course non college ppl are just as susceptible but college they thrive on expanding their thinking so why not listen to him
the fact that a doctor of psychiatry fell for his lovebombing is so crazy to me. like he clearly was such a manipulative psycho. i feel so incredibly bad for these kids and i know people probably victim blamed them so hard because they think “who would fall for this” you’d be surprised
I haven’t watched it all the way yet but plz know it’s different when you’re dealing with a circumstance in your personal life
I tell people that being a psychiatrist doesn't make you immune, no more than being an oncologist makes you immune to cancer.
People act like doctors are these perfect, intelligent, unbiased human beings who can never be tricked or fooled. Which is just ridiculous. They're just as human as the rest of us, and are just as likely to fall for abusive and manipulative tactics.
She did say at the beginning a doctor said he was fully capable of manipulating even doctors and was therefor unable to be truely analyzed...
@@thelemurofmadagascar9183
Thank you! I never put physicians on a pedestal. By the time I was in my late teens, I wasn't impressed with them.
This is so crazy! I can’t believe the control he apparently had over his daughter…. The fact that she knew all of this was happening but just moved out and moved on without ever looking back or trying to help a single one of the victims who she brought into his life to begin with! You’re one of my faves Sommer, keep up the good work!!!
I don't blame her entirely. Sometimes you have to just think of yourself.
@@rosesweetcharlotteShe wasn't blaming the daughter...
She moved out, but that doesn't mean that her mind was fully free. It sounds like she never saw him as having done anything wrong. Just dad being dad again. She was raised by him, so his behavior would have seemed pretty normal to her.
Thanks for covering these not so well known cases. I think non religious cults are so fascinating.
Oh I Agree
I think they all have a measure of religiosity to them. They consider a person as their leader who they owe their lives to. And these leaders are in fact, malevolent.
@@savagetwin52 it's more like a cult of personality. But they do have a certain religious behaviour towards their leader.
I agree. I had never heard about this one. You'd think the media would've eaten this one up!
@@Queen.AnneBoleyn right?!
The more I educate myself about cult dynamics the more I realise that I was brought up in a high control family, went into a high control marriage and even one of my jobs was very cult-like.
The frightening reality is that cult dynamics are found everywhere.
I recently had a conversation with a friend who went through the same thing as you, and she realized it at the age of 68. It is all about control, and control is not identified enough as the largest human addiction. Big hug to you and may you find your way to the nectar of freedom and self-sovereignty.
@@philosopher2king 🙏
@@philosopher2king This is true. This control is brought about by so many factors. Even when we tell people how we think they should live or what we think they should do is a form of this control. It is a scary thing when you figure it out. It can take a long time to realise. Your friend is lucky, many go to the grave never understanding their life and beliefs were not their own.
Start withbgiverent control media control
I’m still not sure if Isabella should be forgiven. I think the moment she turned from a victim into an accomplice is when she started assisting in Larry’s abuse and mooching off of the extortion money. Even if she was brainwashed, it seems like she secretly enjoyed the attention and benefits of being Larry’s favorite, and only turned on him by the end to save her own ass.
I agree. She definitely seemed to take some joy in being his sidekick.
I agree. None of the others helped with the torture and abuses. I feel like she should have gotten 10 yrs at the very least. I think that could have balanced things out a bit. Is it enough? I don’t know. But what she got wasn’t.
Like father like daughter
Every abuser like this have a "right hand".
@@kr3642 not his daughter
Hard to believe people like this exist. It's terrifying to think someone could ever have that kind of control over one of my children.
Absolutely insane how he managed to control them. Both men & women, young & old, free to go to & from school/work, even took them to a different state, & still were under his control. Wow!!
This case scares me. How was he allowed to live in the house at Sarah Lawrence? I’m so surprised that this ever happened. My daughter is a sophomore at university on the West Coast and during her freshman year she had to live in a dorm. We kept a close eye on her. We made sure to meet her roommate’s parents. In fact, they are still roommates now that they have an apartment in off campus student housing.
But I digress, these videos are so disturbing. So many things have happened lately that make me even more protective of our daughter. I realize she’s an adult and there’s only so much that I can do but I have made sure she’s aware of her surroundings.
Your wonderful to do all that you can do. My son is 36 and its still just as hard. Now he has two girls and he's just as cautious with them as i was with him. And hes a big guy he could have made short work of me when he was twelve. I'm so proud of who he has become, but he's always going to be my boy. 👍😊
I went to college outside my hometown between 1974 to '78. We were safe living on campus dorms and on the private owned ones.
Recently had a glimpse of a serie on ID channel called Murder at the dorms. I was 😱.
These Ray's case is disturbing. Can't understand why the young MD got caught on that BS.
When I was in college, my roommate's boyfriend basically moved into our dorm room. Honestly, he was a cool guy and we all got along and it took months before we realized he basically came over one day and never left lol
But we all also realized that the three of us got lucky none of us were insane or very toxic. That could have gotten real bad.
@@rosesweetcharlotte this happens all the time for some reason. it's never gfs that de facto move in w ppl rent free.
@@SpecialBlanket My roommate's BF actually did go to school there and had a room on campus. I think the bigger problem is in these more independent student housing situations because there aren't RAs there
Why the heck did they think a grown man that is sleeping on THEIR couch could HELP them
IKR. A man who was just released from prison.
Hidden Dragon Couching Tiger
Because he had money if he was s broke dad their defences would have been up
Oh, he wasn't sleeping on the couch. They gave him an extra room. And at the next place, he and his two GFs got their own room and bed, while everybody else crashed on the floor in the next room. He maned to immediately manipulate the situation so that he looked like he had it complexly together, at least to them.
@@toribabe1000he was government funded for mind experiment
I think this is a perfect example how even vulnerable young adults can fall victim to manipulation. This is a literal example of grooming. It goes to show that even adults can be groomed especially those between the ages 18-22 who are still very young. He made them all feel special and made them see him as a "cool dad" when in reality he was just gaining their trust in order to exploit them. They all were already in vulnerable places in their life (dealing with their sexuality, family problems, etc) which is what made it easier for them to trust him. He took advantage of their vulnerability.
Even vulnerable young adults can fall victim..... why would you say even young adults. It's always young adults 99.9% of the time. A perfect example. Haha every example is the same as the last one cause they all have young adults.. haha even young adults.
@@anthonywandowicz8084why would you say vulnerable? Vulnerable implies they can fall victim already
I don't think I've ever encountered a story so similar to what happened to me before. My abuser was a "counselor" who used our "therapy" sessions to brainwash and sexually abuse me. He had a whole religion to go with it and convinced me he could read minds and had other powers. There was no money extortion or physical violence, but the constant communication and "therapy" that he used to keep pushing the envelope is soooo similar.
Did he got punished?
@midge j No, unfortunately. It took me many many years to even begin to realize that it was abuse because I was so entrenched. Statute of limitations expired for criminal charges before I told anyone about it. My state has opened a one year window to file civil charges and I have until November of this year to decide if I want to pursue those charges or not. But even if a jury finds him liable it only means possibly a monetary payout, he wouldn't face jail time. And that's assuming I even have a case, I didn't save any evidence so it would be purely my word against his, not exactly a strong case.
@@nikid9807he is not still practicing is he? I hope that he at least lost his license in all this…
@paradisedreaming6363 He's not, and I doubt he was licensed to begin with. He was a "spiritual counselor" who got ordained online, claimed to have a Doctorate as well but it was probably just a fraudulent one he printed out. He didn't have much of any kind of online presence and gained all his "clients" through word-of-mouth.
So sorry that happened to you. I hope you are doing ok now?
This Larry is the epitome of Evil. I can’t even imagine a punishment for him that would be enough!
I have watched a three part documentary on Hulu. How fast he was able to manipulate his daughters friends was scary. This just showed me it could happen to anyone. I was shocked when Larry videotaped the abuse. I hope everyone is able to get the help to deal with the abuse from Larry.
Hey! Would you mind telling the name of the documentary?
@@fragrancepaws stolen youth inside the cult at Sarah Lawrence
@@fragrancepaws stolen youth
@@bleached2458 thanks so much
@@bleached2458 thx for taking the time to answer, I wasn't aware of this story, and wow is it riveting!
His methods totally reminds me of the methods of Scientology...
I’ve always watched True Crime shows. This gal is by far, the most articulate presenter, no idle thoughts or fillers, just the facts, spoken so clearly. Excellent presentation !! ♥️
Hearing the amount of money claudia gave larry is heartbreaking. She could have bought a nice house and car with that money! She must have work so hard and so many hours to get that, and not even be able to keep it. I really hope she is doing well and is able to heal from this.
Sarah Lawrence has a lot of answer for. Allowing a parent to crash their student housing? How does that happen?? Especially a guy with a spotty record living with young women?
This was intense. I don't know what to make of any of this. I think with Sarah Lawrence the apartments were student housing but not dorms so they weren't heavily supervised and maybe that's why he was able to live there. This whole thing is just sad and bizarre.
Super creepy and inappropriate that the father, Larry, moved into the college house with his daughter and her friends. Is that even allowed by a college university? This man is a monster!!! And I'm only ten minutes into the video!!! Pure evil. It's so disturbing how Larry brainwashed and manipulated the students. Did Larry have a job?? How was he getting by financially?
Sommer, you are so amazingly kind to always warn us before showing or talking about graphic content. I really appreciate this, rather than trying to go for shock value or extra drama that can be triggering for some of us. That’s why I go for your content before anything else!
Looking into his eyes you can see the darkness.. There’s no light, no love. He is a disturbed individual. And its all in his eyes. So sad.
Daughter Talia is just as responsible. What a monster both of them dad and daughter
I don’t know how I came across your channel last week! I’ve watched all of your videos! I believe the Alamo Cult has really effected me the most. I wanted to say thank you for your dedication to your videos, channel and viewers for all of the research you clearly put yourself through! Also, for your emotional ties you have with each story! I tell my wife about all of these stories and I will re-listen to parts with her! Great channel!! Thank you Sommer!!
Thank you so much for your sweet words! I’m so happy to have you here 🥰🖤
How all these “damaged” kids wound up in ONE place to be easily victimized is wild.
He damaged them.
Most people at that age are going through something. He just dug for that something and amplified it to his control.
Like attracts like
Not really, most people have something that they keep hidden. It can be something they lived or something they wonder about. If someone starts to act as if only they can help and understand, then the grooming begins.
Doesn't make them damaged as so much makes him an incredibly skilled manipulator. He had an impressive history of already, with grown intelligent men. Even a psyc eval concluded so.
That was so messed up. Man, and Sarah Lawrence really did dodge any accountability, didn’t they? Thanks for shining light on a lesser known story.
The thing is, college kids are sort of adults. I'm not sure you can really blame the school here
Universities have campus police for a reason, and abundance of different resource offices (wether helpful or truly plentiful/available argueable) in charge of aiding safety and qualify of life for their students even though they're most legal age. Just because they have legal freedoms doesn't mean they don't deserve protections from the place they pay for their own higher education & personal development. Guess in 2011, I'm grateful PA wouldn't even allow female sorority houses or learn of college cults until this video.
Only half way through, basically meant to say while yes it's on Larry & others involved for what they do - the school still bears a responsibility for keeping a safe environment & whateverbgoes on on their campus for a decade. However thought Summer said they moved to Manhattan apt fairly right off so maybe not much happened at the U itself just their students.
Some of the victims just brought up a lawsuit last month.
Awesome video!!! This was the MEAT of the story that Hulu did not mention, excellent job, clearly presented, subscribed!!
Thank you! 🖤🖤🖤
I think that his daughter should have been charged with the same charges as her father!!! YOU can see that she really helps him with the enjoyment and Gratitude of hurting others. It's like she got off on it almost. If you watch the videos you can see the father and daughter would work together as a team!!! I'm soooooooo confused with why she's not going to get any jail time for her vicious acts that she was more than willing to take part in!!!SMH???
This video is so strange to watch for me because it hits entirely too close to home & I wasn’t expecting that at all. My family is Italian & from Brooklyn. Most families like theirs & like mine have Mob/Mafia ties & have crossed paths one way or another. All of these faces & names are SO familiar to me but somehow I’ve never heard about this! You’re awesome, Sommer! I really love your storytelling. Keep up the good work girl 💜
Thank you so much! 🖤🥰
The Rosario's siblings looks like our people in the diaspora. 🇵🇷
Isabella absolutely deserved to go to jail. I get she was manipulated at first, but she participated in extortion and torture. I don't have an opinion on how long her sentence t, but if I were a victim, I probably would.
I live where sarah lawrence is -even friends who live on its campus and it’s wild how little anyone speaks about this
It's so weird that he was shaping their sense of reality like play-doh. How did he learn how to do this? When I sense that someone is trying to manipulate me, I just back away and try to avoid them.
From my understanding, this is something that cannot be taught to someone, not fully anyway, and it is something that must be practiced all the time. You know those “behavioral expert” channels? Larry is like them but with no morality.
It is also not that difficult to understand, everyone has what is known as “tells”. These are things that people do when they are being emotional. Mind you, I am using the term “emotional” differently than what most people think of. It doesn’t necessarily mean being outwardly upset, angry, happy, etc. When someone experiences any form of emotion, it will appear on their face. (Do note that there are those who don’t wear emotion on their face or even express it at all)
Let’s say you are angry. Your first thought might be that it is written on your face which is true, however, with tells it isn’t just your face, it is how you carry your body, the tone in your voice, what position your hands are in. There is a wide range of how you express being angry.
That is how Larry does this, he sits back and watches how a person reacts down to the most minute detail. The fact that he was able to do this with a trained psychologist, is not unheard of. The fact that the psychologist was still able to realize what was happening was a good thing. It’s when you don’t realize it’s happening that it can become dangerous.
People like Larry are looking for the broken, the downtrodden, the ones that appear curious. Even the ones that were hesitant about him had already been curious thanks to his daughter. She had already been planting seeds without realizing it so when he finally showed up, no matter if they were stand offish, their curiosity had already been peaked.
And that is the key: Larry needs people who are broken in one way or another. They could come from a nice and loving home, but they also might have this little seed of doubt within them. People like Larry hones in on this and uses it to their advantage. A group who usually uses these techniques the most are con artists.
Edit to Add: I just remembered something and it is key to how Larry did all this. Time and patience. It might seem that it happened quickly but in reality it didn’t. He spent hours with them. *Hours.* Constantly talking. And they made the logical mistake of responding. If they had just shut down (allowed their minds to wander) and/or not responded to him, Larry wouldn’t have had any means to get to their weak points. He would listen and watch for a tell then use it to get to them mentally.
I have a feeling that when Larry first arrived, all that cleaning he did was a means to listen to them. I bet he had them pegged within a few days. So really it wasn’t “too fast”, from the moment he had brainwashed his daughter and she moved in with them, he was already beginning the process. I bet he asked her questions about her friends and she readily told him. Then he arrived and didn’t start right away. He cleaned up after them, he slept on the couch, he did all this to pick up on anything his daughter left out. It’s scarily brilliant.
Just imagine being able to use this man's skills in diplomacy
Many politicians have a similar psych profile.
Wow what a horrible man! I wish we taught everyone how to identify psychopaths.
"Predator, inappropriate, power imbalance, gaslighting, narcissist, undue influence, sex trafficking, creepy uncle vibe, self harm"-----didn't even have these cautionary WORDS or phrases in that era :(
Felicia was supposed to be a professional, graduating Harvard and this man cracked her after a few hours during dinner while her siblings were also there. Damn.
This is the part that’s hard for me to wrap my head around. Like she graduated medical school studying PSYCHOLOGY and he still broke her. Pretty scary tbh
The older I get the more I realise that school smart definitely does not sum up to any kid of street smarts. I have witnessed really intelligent women fall the absolute dumbest lies all in the name of looking for love.
It's insane that this guy was able to completely fool and manipulate not only college students but older adults as well _and_ that the psychologist who surveyed him even said that the most experienced psychologists wouldn't be able to diagnose him because he was so manipulative. Hell, he even had lawn enforcement thinking he was ratting on that deal with the Gambino family for a time when really he was directly involved in it.
Not to mention that he was able to perform real life "inception," even though they were college kids, but dude was straight implanting ideas in their brains to make them think or do certain things and he didn’t even need a sci-fi dreaming machine. Some people are just master manipulators- though I wouldn't say he was _that_ good to deserve such a title but he was pretty close.
Unfortunately for him, his greed kept getting in the way and he pushed it too far so that almost everyone left. Usually a master manipulator (Charles Manson, for instance, who had people kill for him) is able to keep their followers around, to keep them loyal enough that they'll kill or even die (Jim Jones) for them. Larry was not quite on that level and thank goodness for that.
Still, I'm sure his victims have done a lot of beating themselves up for getting into such an awful situation, and I seriously hope they're healing and doing ok. This case really shows that anyone can end up in a cult. Of course there are those that are much more vulnerable to ending up in high control groups but as a whole, no matter what you may think, no one is immune from them. As many cult experts say, no one intends to end up in a cult. All it takes is the right person saying the right things at a moment where you happen to be at the right level of vulnerability and then the next thing you know you're wondering how the hell the last six months even happened.
Wow! I had hoped Isabella would be spending time in a hospital specially equiped with de-programming therapy, as probably all of his victims should have been, for repairing their mental health.
Retired RN
You do an excellent job of showing the gradual build up to his control over them. I watched a video on this previously, and while the video was well done, it gave more of an impression that he started more abusive patterns and actions immediately. A lot of the people in the comments were bashing the victims for being stupid and easily controlled, and were saying that they didn't feel sorry for the victims.
Can't believe the daughter basically got away with everything!
I had only heard of this in the headlines but didn't know any details. Thanks for covering the story. It's just unbelievable for so many reasons. Excellent job, as always!
Summer, thank you so much for covering this story! I've been super interested in learning about it. I started several other videos prior to yours but had to stop watching them midway because I kept getting lost!! You did a great job explaining everything in detail yet making it possible for me to follow and understand what was going on. You are incredible! 😊
You know a story is messed up when Bernie "Gestapo" Kerik seems like the most reasonable person.
Scary and crazy case . As always I look forward to notification on you're videos , mad how mind manipulation can be so powerfull . Hey from Ireland 🇮🇪
Hey Daniel! 🖤
It's difficult to judge Isabella's case when you consider how he broke down everyone else as well, even the more mature and Harvard educated psychology graduate. It seems like Isabella is only apologetic now that she's been found guilty though.
I don't get how she justified to herself that pimping out her friend and torturing her was anything other than wrong. She obviously needs a ton of professional mental health treatment.
What an extraordinary story. Thank you for your clear & concise storytelling. I did watch a TV doco on this last week and was totally confused. How can seemingly intelligent people abandon their critical thinking and moral stance?
I know it's not unique with all the cults in the world but yeah absolutely extraordinary.
What an evil, evil man. To think that he convinced those kids that they had been abused by their parents. And to think he implanted all those false memories so quickly, its truly frightening.
Imagine. What is going on in college campuses with teachers as well. See they want to teach the kids individuality they remove god and family. They are taught nothing good anymore
I've only seen one other channel cover this. It wasn't long or detailed enough, so I've been looking for this case since!
This is INSANE it needs way more coverage. As far as cults go, this is definitely the creepiest and weirdest because it occurred on campus with a students father. 😳
So Talia just let her dad do all this to her friends and just left them? 🤔
Larry's the one that owes all of his members more than just money and compensation.
So.......this is a "let's do every crime " case
Pretty much 😣
Found your channel this morning and I am now 6 hour's deep into your video's. Love your style of reporting, you're incredibly informative and really easy on the ears. I look forward to watching more of your work. Great job!!
I can't imagine if he ever works
as a police interrogating people. MANY
innocent people will be made to believe
that they COMMITTED CRIMES.
Scary!! These are educated adults! So so sad !! My heart goes out to the victims.
This was my #1 choice when I was applying to colleges...couldn't end up going due to financials but absolutely insane that I was almost there...
I graduated from SLC 10 years before this scandal. It was always a place for creative kids who wanted a small, supportive community in which to thrive. I had a great experience there and am disgusted that a scumbag like Larry Ray was able to insinuate himself into these kids lives and exploit them: It's so nasty.
Hi Sommer. Looking forward to listening to this during work down time tomorrow. Have a great week. 😊
Thanks, Liam! Hope you have a great week 🖤🖤🖤
By the second arrest i was like there is no redemption for Larry 🤦🏽♀️🤦🏽♀️🤦🏽♀️🤦🏽♀️
Omg I’m so happy I watched this bc I had no clue. That man is sickening! I pray all the victims find peace one day.
This was absolutely the most shocking thing i have ever witnessed when I watched the documentary. The reality of brainwashing and mind control is astounding. The poor family was wrecked by him. I’m so glad they made it out.
I know he’s a scumbag for SURE, but I do want to say that adderall is a hell of a drug. When I was addicted, I would question my bf over and over about him cheating with no proof. All day all night it was all I talked about, I was insufferable. As soon as I got clean it stopped completely. I have to wonder if the house damage issue was his sort of obsessive thing. Drugs suck. I have been clean from adderall for several years and never want to go back.
Totally, it upped his paranoia, but he was using the Adderall as a weapon too by feeding it to the kids. The funny thing is I haven't heard anyone talk about how crazy Larry is. He was obsessed with having all the kids confess through letters and emails, it's insane! But like a true sociopath, he was obsessed with his reputation, and in the end, his sick kink for filming his sadistic punishments was all the proof the jury needed to land him in prison for the rest of his life. In short, he was a master manipulator, who was also stupid and addicted.
Utterly INSANE that these kids would buy ANY of that snake oil !!!!
been here since you uploaded your third video and i haven’t left. i love how you keep the audience engaged as well as delivering as many facts rather than opinions as possible.
Its mind blowing how easy these cults happen.
I went to school with Bernard Keriks son. I knew his dad was police chief. All this stuff is putting my stomach in knots. Crazy this was happening so close to me!
This is what gaslighting is and what it does to people.
I love your videos and the way you cover these crimes. I do think that this girl took part in everything so should have gotten a sentence that would keep her from finding another monster as soon as she gets out to start using others to meet her own needs for money and blood.
Omg ! I am sooooo happy to seee you back … was eagerly waiting for you to make a drop!!! Thanks for this
I really like your videos. You are so respectful to the victims, telling their stories and showing how they suffered and slipped into the traps those perpetrators set up for them. Your channel is different in this from other true crime channels and I like that a lot. I'm always curious about true crime but I rarely watch true crime shows because it's mostly just fixed and perversely celebrating the creeps and criminals, but you're giving a very balanced overview about everything. It's very interesting and respectful.
100% think she should be punished for her participation but I also think she’s probably his biggest victim. He manipulated & brainwashed her her entire life.
Mind boggling! I dont understand how he did it. An absolute monster.
The common theme in these cult videos is that unless you are a moron, you really don’t have to worry about getting pulled into a cult.
Sounds like the American political front atm.
I highly appreciate your matter-of-fact, lucid and detailed narration. It makes for an easy and smooth listen.
Claudia didn't look distressed, she looked like he had drugged her with something.
Yes it did
That still counts "under distressed."
@@tashibalampkin8555 she still didn't look distressed to me, she looked out of it and to me that is two different things in her case.
Duress describes the act of using force, coercion, threats, or psychological pressure, among other things, to get someone to act against their wishes. If a person is acting under duress, they are not acting of their own free will and so may be treated accordingly in court proceedings.
I read Dan's book and was horrified at what took place. I ended up watching any and everything I could on this story. I may be wrong but I thought one of the young women committed suicide. Anyway, Sommer you did a fantastic job on researching this; it was riveting. Thank you.
It’s a wild one for sure! The Hulu documentary was so insane and sad.
which one committed suicide?
@@barbrothers2 Like I said I could be wrong about it but I have this memory of one of the many videos I watched about this, it was a female and one not mentioned a lot. Sorry.
It wasn’t a woman, it was another man who was under Larry’s control and seemed to live in the apartment with them, I really wish I could remember his name but it was a foreign name I’d never heard before. I can’t find it anywhere online right now but I looked up his name after hearing about it in a podcast covering this case!
@@bbyjirl Thank you. I was at least half right.
Thank you Sommer ❤ let’s do this 😊
Six months is jail: not prison.
You never cease to amaze me with your coverage. Just when I thought I'd heard them all, you bring us new cult stories!
This is an INCREDIBLY scary, tragic, heart breaking case. My prayers for everybody involved. I hope they all are healing from this ❤
I’m just getting into your channel now and I think you and @cultstoconsciousness need to talk. Shelise is awesome and has a lot of insight into cults.
Isabella helped torture Claudia close to death, but she herself was manipulated and abused into getting to that point, I think a psych hospital would be appropriate, but I won’t say I’m against her being sentenced to prison either, I’m really conflicted on how I feel about her in all of this
I’m not conflicted. She’s guilty too. She watched and participated in torturing people.
You did a great job with this story!
Thanks again Sommer for providing a grim but informative cast. This was almost like an episode of friends if David Lynch directed it. Gaslighting in itself is wicked and cruel, but this was on another level. Most telling being that these young folk were not technically vulnerable until he played his evil mind tricks, even the young lady with a psychology background.
All the very best.
For somebody undiagnosed with ADD or ADHD Adderall is like prescription meth. 😳
Its so nice to see your videos and your channel growing! You’re an amazing story teller and I always look forward to your videos ❤
This is an insane case. I can’t believe I’ve never heard it. It also has some striking similarities to the book The Last Housewife so I’m assuming the book is loosely based on this case. I hope all the victims of this creep are able to come to terms with everything that happened to them. He stole some of their most formative years.
i wish i was even a little surprised that such a low life criminal had such connections with law enforcement and politicians
Was super excited to realized it was Sunday and you’d be releasing a new video! 😀
I’d rather never send my kids to college.
Even at 19 I wouldn’t have listened to an ex-con telling me he could help me ‘reach my full potential’.
I don’t think she should’ve been sent to prison. I think she should’ve been convicted of all charges & sent to a mental hospital to receive proper care for the abuse, manipulation, and brainwashing.
Just found your channel! I love how direct and to the point you are, will be binge watching ❤
Ditto 😊
I just came across your channel and binge watching.. Omg Im so amazed by stuff going on around world or did go on... Love how you tell the stories.. Thankyou so much 💓
They lost 12 years of their lives. There’s so much life that happens in a decade and he robbed them of that. I hope they are able to heal enough to make a life out of their future. Such a heartbreaking case.
I lived with these hosuemates for uni. They were really odd. The guy tried telling me I couldn’t have men over and called me a wh0re for 2 months straight. Even though we had to listen to him have loud sex all day and night. He gave us very strict house rules (for a big uni house it was pretty strict). No mess. What do ever. Don’t leave a single item that belongs to you out. Or they’ll break it or scream at you. (He was allowed to be absolutely disgusting, dirty plates out for weeks, rubbish all over the living room, filled up all the counter space with his stuff, left vomit in our sink once). No noise at all. If you talk too loud, laugh too loud, open and close a door and it makes a noise? Good luck to you. He’ll threaten to burn the house down Come down screaming at you. But he’d keep us up all night slamming the doors, stomping and yelling at all hours to the point we were literally sleep deprived.
One time we tried leaving the house without him and his horrible gf. They followed us out and drove around looking for us. I can see how easily you can fall into complying with someone that’s a maniac. It’s a safety thing. Complying is the safest option that doesn’t have a chance to backfire. He had access to us constantly, our items, our space. And as someone that grew up with a angry father. Having someone like that in your home, your one safe space reallybeffects you’re mental health. It wears you down bc you’re always on guard. Additionally, growing up with an angry dad can make things difficult when you’re older, living in a shared accom and this one guy living there is stomping around the house, shouting and swearing and throwing things, suddenly you’re 9 years old again hoping that ur dad won’t turn to you and start on you.
This guy started hating on me first. Everyone else thought he was great and I was just being sensitive. But it was constant. Lots of little things. Hiding my stuff. Always putting my coat on the floor. Using my things and pretending in crazy when I say “don’t touch my stuff”. His gf tried telling me it was my fault because I “don’t like him”. I didn’t like him. But I didn’t act on it. I was just neutral to him. He was very misogynistic. If you were a woman, you either had to fawn all over him, become his mother, be his therapist. Or all three. I didn’t fit into any of that. So I was just “an annoying bitch”. Eventually he couldn’t help himself and started acting like that to the other girls in the house too and then we all kinda stuck together to stay away from him
@@abbiesadler4324 why would you choose to live with him in the first place. He is an old guy. Didn't you think that it was weird for him to live with you?
This is super fascinating and disturbing. Thank you for covering this story and for continuing to cover these stories. I look forward to your next video! ❤
i’m very curious about Talia. i wish we could get to here her perspective on this because clearly he really fucked her up for her to leave and run as far away from the cult as possible and cut any involvement i think out of fear.
So happy those three siblings are back with their family too!! It hurt so bad the way he tore them from their families 💔