A MAN who was busted for allegedly running a sex-trafficking cult that manipulated his daughter's college classmates made nearly $2 million by forcing one of the victims into prostitution, a court heard Monday.

Lawrence Ray, who allegedly abused five students at Sarah Lawrence College, kept records of the cash his victim made, federal prosectors said.

4 A court heard how Lawrence Ray allegedly manipulated one of his victims into prostitution and made more than $1.7 million Credit: AP:Associated Press

4 Ray was arrested last month on charges that alleged he used physical, sexual and psychological abuse to extort money from five different students at Sarah Lawrence College Credit: AP:Associated Press

One document showed the victim, who was unidentified, handed over $700,000 in 2017, while another said she passed on more than $1 million in 2018, prosecutors said.

The two ledgers showed the dates and the amounts paid, and prosecutors have said they have matched this information to text messages by Ray, 60, and his associates.

Ray, from Piscataway, New Jersey, also saw his bail denied in a Manhattan federal court on Monday, as details of his arrest were revealed.

The 60-year-old was arrested last month on charges that he allegedly used physical, sexual and psychological abuse to extort money from five different students at Sarah Lawrence College, a private liberal arts college outside New York City.

PSYCHOLOGICAL ABUSE

Prosecutors said some of Ray's victims were roommates of his daughter, Talia, who graduated Sarah Lawrence in 2013.

Ray got to know the victims when he moved into the students' campus housing in late 2010, presenting himself as a father figure and conducting therapy sessions with them, according to authorities.

He is charged with sex trafficking and extortion, which, if convicted, could see him face a mandatory minimum of 15 years in prison on the sex trafficking charge alone, the court heard.

A prosecutor said Ray, who was once arrested for securities fraud, was found in bed with one of his victims at the time of his arrest.

Ray was the legal "guardian" of that victim, prosectors said, and he had groomed her and subjected her to extreme mental and physical abuse.

Another victim is also said to have been living with Ray at the time of he arrest.

BAIL DENIED

In opposing bail, Assistant U.S. Attorney Danielle Sassoon argued Ray had a history of failing to obey court orders, tampering with witnesses, had jumped bail once before and had used his daughter as a human shield as U.S. marshals arrested him years ago.

Sassoon said that Ray essentially broke his victims' spirits, and authorities have said he convinced them they were indebted to him.

Ray is alleged to have subjected his victims to hours-long interrogations, exploited them sexually, and deprived them of food and sleep.

One woman, Sassoon said, was groomed so that she would engage in sex with various men while Ray filmed the encounters.

The prosecutor added that, in order to protect himself from investigators, Ray kept cash in bank accounts under the names of his victims or in a backpack.

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Ray's defense lawyer, Assistant Federal Defender Marne Lenox, said that his client wants to fight the charged against him and tell his side of the story.

He added that much of the evidence relates to events from over a decade ago after Ray went through a nasty divorce.

Other accusations, Lenox added, stem from two alleged victims: one with a troubled past, including problems with drugs, and another who has already signed a book deal to profit from the story.

4 Ray is alleged to have manipulated his victims into seeing him as something as a father figure Credit: Getty Images - Getty

4 The 60-year-old was denied bail on Monday Credit: NBC

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