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U.S. NEWS Tuesday 3 March 2020

Prosecutor: Ex-convict was in

bed with victim when arrested

NEW YORK (AP) — An ex-
convict accused of forcing
young women he met in his
daughter's dormitory into
prostitution or forced labor
after winning their trust was
in bed with a victim when
he was arrested, a pros-
ecutor said Monday as the
In this Feb. 15, 2018, file photo, law enforcement officers block New Jersey man lost a bid
off the entrance to Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in to be freed on bail.
Parkland, Fla., following a deadly shooting at the school. The detail of Lawrence
Associated Press Ray's arrest was revealed
Man gets 5+ years' by Assistant U.S. Attorney This undated file photo provided by the U.S. Attorney's office
Danielle Sassoon as she ar-
gued against bail in Man-
prison for harassing hattan federal court. A de- shows Lawrence Ray, an ex-convict known for his role in a
scandal involving former New York police commissioner Ber-
fense lawyer argued that
nard Kerik.
Associated Press
Parkland victims the charges stemmed from lars. Ray was arrested last Meanwhile, he tried to
events long ago and that
her client can't wait to con-
test the charges. month on charges that al- shield himself from inves-
By CURT ANDERSON which left 17 dead and 17 A woman he described as leged he used "physical, tigators by keeping cash
AP Legal Affairs Writer wounded. his wife was a victim, the sexual and psychological in bank accounts under
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) In some messages, he prosecutor said, and they abuse" to extort money the names of his victims or
— A California man who claimed kinship with and lived in a residence in which from five different students in a backpack he carried
is on the autism spectrum even impersonated shoot- Ray kept a lock on the re- at Sarah Lawrence Col- around, Sassoon said.
was sentenced Monday to ing defendant Nikolas frigerator door, restricting lege, a private liberal arts Ray is charged with sex
more than five years in pris- Cruz. In others, he invoked their access to food. college outside New York trafficking and extorition. If
on for cyberstalking families the names of infamous seri- Recovery for the victims will City. convicted, he could face
of Parkland, Florida, school al killers such as Ted Bundy. probably be a long ordeal, Authorities said he con- a mandatory minimum of
shooting victims. "I killed your loved ones ha- the prosecutor said. vinced them they were in- 15 years in prison on the sex
U.S. District Judge Rodolfo haha," one message said. Ray, once convicted of debted to him, subjecting trafficking charge alone,
Ruiz imposed the sentence "Did you like my Valentines securities fraud, had a his- them to grueling hourslong she said.
on 22-year-old Brandon gift? I killed your friends," tory of failing to obey court interrogations that includ- Ray's defense lawyer, As-
Fleury of Santa Ana, Cali- said another. orders, tampering with wit- ed sexual exploitation and sistant Federal Defender
fornia, rejecting a request One of his user names was nesses, had jumped bail humiliation as he deprived Marne Lenox, asked Magis-
by prosecutors for the max- "nikolas.cruz.killed.your.sis- once before and had used them of food and sleep. trate Judge Kevin Nathan-
imum 20-year sentence. ter," court records show. his daughter as a human "He essentially broke their iel Fox to release her client
Fleury was convicted by One message from that shield as U.S. marshals ar- spirit," Sassoon said. to house arrest on $100,000
a jury in October of three account said this: rested him years ago, Sas- Two of the female victims bail on the sex trafficking
counts of cyberstalking "Hahaha she had her soon said. were living with Ray when and extortion charges.
and one count of transmit- whole life ahead of her Ray, 60, of Piscataway, New he was arrested, and one Much of the evidence,
ting a kidnapping threat. and I STOLE IT FROM HER," Jersey, pocketed over $1.7 woman was in bed with Lenox said, relates to
Trial evidence showed that according to court docu- million in total in 2017 and him at the time, the pros- events from over a decade
between December 2018 ments. 2018 from the proceeds of ecutor said.Ray "sexually ago after he went through
and January 2019, Fleury "The victims lived in con- a victim who worked as a groomed" one woman, a nasty divorce or stem
used several Instagram stant fear that the individ- prostitute, Sassoon said. getting her to engage in from two alleged victims,
accounts to threaten and ual bombarding them" with And, she said, he had the sex with various men while one with a troubled past,
harass families of victims of the messages would follow money to flee because he he filmed the encounters, including problems with
the Valentine's Day 2018 in Cruz's footsteps, Assistant claimed his offshore inter- Sassoon said. He had sex drugs and another who has
shooting at Marjory Stone- U.S. Attorney Ajay Alexan- net domain-name business with multiple victims him- already signed a book deal
man Douglas High School, der said in court papers. q was worth millions of dol- self, she said. to profit from the story.q