This is such a sad story. IMO I hope that the judge gives these two the maximum sentence.



New York (CNN) -- On the evening of September 19, Rutgers University student Dharun Ravi is believed to have sent a message by Twitter about his roommate, Tyler Clementi.

"Roommate asked for the room till midnight. I went into molly's room and turned on my webcam. I saw him making out with a dude. Yay."

Ravi, 18, of Plainsboro, New Jersey, surreptitiously placed the camera in their dorm room and broadcast video of Clementi's sexual encounter on the internet, the Middlesex County prosecutor's office said. Ravi tried to use the webcam again on two days later, on September 21.

"Anyone with iChat, I dare you to video chat me between the hours of 9:30 and 12. Yes it's happening again," Ravi is believed to have tweeted.

The next day, Clementi was dead.



Video: Expert: Suicide linked to spying

Video: Sex spying linked to death?
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New Jersey authorities said the 18-year-old freshman apparently committed suicide by jumping off the George Washington Bridge, which spans the Hudson River between New Jersey and New York. A law enforcement source told CNN that Clementi's wallet and cell phone were found on the bridge.

A week later, the New York City Police harbor unit recovered the body of an unidentified male from the Hudson River. Thursday, authorities were trying to determine if it was Clementi's body.

And an attorney for the Ridgewood, New Jersey, family said Wednesday: "On behalf of the family of Tyler Clementi, I can confirm that Tyler committed suicide last week by jumping from the George Washington Bridge."

A mobile status update September 22 on a Facebook page purportedly belonging to Clementi said: "jumping off the gw bridge sorry."

Ravi and his friend Molly Wei, 18, of Princeton, New Jersey, are each charged with two counts of invasion of privacy for the September 19 broadcast, according to the prosecutor's office. Two more counts of invasion of privacy were leveled against Ravi for the September 21 attempt to videotape another encounter involving Clementi, the prosecutor's office said.

"If the charges are true, these actions gravely violate the university's standards of decency and humanity," Rutgers President Richard L. McCormick said in a statement Wednesday, when the news of Clementi's death broke.

Attorney Paul Minardi said that Clementi's family and representatives are cooperating fully with ongoing investigations. The family requested privacy and declined to comment to the media.

Both Wei and Ravi surrendered to campus police -- Wei surrendered on Monday and was released on her own recognizance; Ravi surrendered Tuesday and was released on $25,000 bail.

Ravi's attorney did not return phone calls from CNN. Wei apparently had not retained an attorney as of Wednesday, the Middlesex County prosecutor's office said.

If convicted, the two students could face up to five years in prison.

Paul Callan, a professor of media law at Seton Hall University, said Ravi and Wei could face an additional charge if it turns out that the broadcast of Clementi's encounter was fueled by hatred of gay people.

Details about Clementi's sexual orientation are unclear. Rutgers University student Danielle Birnbohm, who lived next door to Clementi and Ravi's room in the dorm told CNN affiliate WPIX that Clementi was gay. "It was obvious," she said.

And Ravi tweeted a message on August 22, nine days before classes began at Rutgers.

"Found out my roommate is gay?" the tweet said, according to Topsy, a search engine which allows users to access tweets removed from Twitter.

Steven Goldstein, chairman of the gay and lesbian civil rights organization Garden State Equality, said he was sickened by this incident.

"There are no words sufficient to express our range of feelings," Goldstein said. "We are outraged at the perpetrators. We are heartbroken over the tragic loss of a young man who, by all accounts, was brilliant, talented and kind. And we are sickened that anyone in our society, such as the students allegedly responsible for making the surreptitious video, might consider destroying others' lives as a sport."

But Raj Andeshna, 17, a senior at West Windsor Plainsboro High School North and a former classmate of both defendants, told CNN that the two were "terrific people."

"To know that two intelligent kids could get caught up in something like this is shocking to me," Andeshna said. "The only rationale I've been able to come up with is that they thought they were being funny -- but I really couldn't tell you.

"Without a doubt they must both be filled with regret and are distraught over what happened to Tyler, and as cliche as it sounds -- they are both good people," Andeshna said. "And they just turned 18 and they just went to college, and everyone slips up without understanding the consequences."

But Parry Aftab, the founder and executive director of StopCyberBullying.org, disagreed.

"These young people had to have known the devastating effects of their actions," Aftab said. "And while they may not have foreseen death -- they had to have known how much pain that this would cause."

Police at the university, which has its main campus in New Brunswick, are investigating the case, university president McCormick said in his statement Wednesday.

"I deeply regret that today we learned from the family of one of our students that they believe their son has committed suicide. We are profoundly saddened by this report, and our hearts and prayers are with the parents, family, and friends of this young man, who had started at Rutgers this semester as a first-year student on the New Brunswick campus," McCormick said.

He added, "While there is a lot of information being communicated, we don't have all the facts in this case."

Those who knew Clementi described him as quiet and an accomplished musician -- he played violin with the Ridgewood Symphony Orchestra.

Meanwhile on Facebook, thousands of people joined memorial pages set up for Clementi, whose apparent tragedy began on the internet and continued to unfold there.

__________________
~~~~**Maryann**~~~~

I just got a firm grip on reality....
Now I can strangle it

I am horrified that a functioning adult would have so little respect for someone's privacy---gay or straight. That he would do it and then be abetted by his female friend shows me that the TWO of them do not have a humane or even human brain cell between them.

__________________
Nobody can make you feel inferior without your consent.

E. Roosevelt

What a disgusting way to act. If you don't like someone you get a different room you don't invade their privacy and humiliate them.
I love computers,cell phones, etc however it seems there are so many with a complete lack of ethics that take advantage of technology.
I can't understand how someone can be so cruel.

__________________
The political system is broke and it's a joke.

This is absolutely mortifying, this is exactly what is wrong with this world today!
People are mean, hateful, and all around disgusting. Why not mind your business? Leave other people alone, what others do is NOT YOUR BUSINESS PEOPLE, stay out of it unless they are hurting you or someone else!!!!

I too love how technology has advanced and I own the latest technology just most people but it is getting so to the point that every time you turn around there is another person using it for all the wrong reasons; to hurt someone in one way or another!

OMG this makes me so MAD and I can go on and on so I better stop!

__________________
Someone stole my kitchen table......Oh wait..... there it is, impersonating a pile of coupons.

So truly sad we live in such a sick world today with many evil mean spirited people who have no heart.th May God bless the entire family. Peace.Catherine

How horrific!
Nothing more than mean, evil, horrible people would do this sort of thing.
Just another form of bullying.
It wouldn't matter if it was a "straight" or "gay" encounter--
The individuals who did this should at best charged with involuntary manslaughter...and should be made to serve prison time

__________________
Mental that one, I'm telling you. ---Ron Weasley, "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets"

I totally agree prison time as well sick sick people who need to get a life, for they have no life to commit these horrible acts of hate and discrimination. Peace. Catherine

DH said he heard they are looking at 5 years Prison time. If he heard correctly I hope they serve every single day (like that would ever happen with our penial system) and then some!

__________________
Someone stole my kitchen table......Oh wait..... there it is, impersonating a pile of coupons.

I was shocked to hear that my college freshman had not heard of this tragedy as of yesterday when I talked to her. I think colleges will now need to include the issues that this case raises when they are orienting their new students to campus. Privacy, tolerance, trust, personal responsibility, dispute resolution, downsides and legalities of today's technology, liability,so many things to think about. As a matter of fact, they should not wait until orientation. I see a need for campus dialogues on this issue asap.

I wonder how the guy that he was having sex with is doing since he, too, was exposed on the internet? Surely, he has been seriously affected by his partner's suicide

Yes of course the other person this could be a double truly sad story, while I will admit I love the computer it has exposed our lives for the whole world and it truly is so scary again my heart goes out to this young man and his entire family. Definitely jail time and much of it is needed here. Peace. Catherine