The story of The Slonim Woods 9, a.k.a The Sarah Lawrence Cult, is out as a documentary on both Hulu and Peacock. Daniel Barban Levin has written a book on the subject of his experience as a survivor.
The man who conducted the takeover of the minds of this group of young people was a man named Lawrence Ray. He was someone who had turned evidence against the Gambino crime family. He had helped to put the corrupt police commissioner, Bernie Kerik, behind bars. He had been a consultant for Mikail Gorbachev at one time. All of these details are true, but Lawrence Ray was never who he pretended to be.
In the Peacock documentary, one Cult expert claims the degree to which Lawrence Ray was able to dig into each of them so completely and over such a long period of time, was unprecedented.
Lawrence Ray did, in fact, rewrite his victim’s memories. He used photographs from their childhood as a way to anchor his versions of what happened to them. Whether his victims produced the pictures physically or just recounted the images to their tormentor, he turned the memories into stories of abuse and neglect. These confusions made psychological captives out of his targets.
Lawrence Ray convinced his Cult members that they had been poisoning him and others for years. His entire life was consumed by controlling and tormenting this small group of people, some for nearly ten years.
Daniel Barban Levin’s book is highly readable, repeatedly poetic and insightful. To hear more from SECRET ANTENNA on this subject, sign up for our patreon. $1 a month gets you all the extra goodies!
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