Talia Ray grew up in New Jersey as the elder of two sisters. Her father was a con man who used drugs and alcohol to abuse his children and their mother. Despite the brutality of her parents' divorce proceedings, Talia was fearless in speaking out against her dad and his mistreatment of her and her sister Ava. Talia was able to avoid being placed in foster care and instead stayed with her mom and Ava in local youth shelters.

During her first year at Sarah Lawrence College, Talia began living in Slonim Woods 9, a dorm with several other students. Eventually, she became the de facto leader of the group and would organize the girls' housing for the following year. In doing so, she allowed her father to crash with them, and this was when he started abusing the girls in various ways, including sleep deprivation, psychological and sexual humiliation, verbal abuse, threats of physical violence, sex trafficking, forced labor, and money laundering.

As time went by, some of the victims slowly realized what was happening and left Ray's group. Others, like Isabella Pollok and Claudia Drury, stayed by his side and helped him gain millions of dollars through sex work. It wasn't until a 2019 New York Magazine article alleged that Ray was running his cult and torturing his victims that the FBI got involved.

After a long trial, Talia Ray was sentenced to 60 years in prison for his crimes. Depending on the source, some believe that Talia wasn't even aware of her father's situation while others think she was well aware and took advantage of it. Regardless, it's reported that Talia is now living a quiet life as a paralegal in North Carolina.