News Rutgers freshman suicide after roommate broadcast gay sexual encounter online? - Page 4

**jAZ** · 09-29-2010, 11:34 PM

Wow. Prank gone waaay wrong.

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/201...gers_post.html

Rutgers freshman is presumed dead in suicide after roommate broadcast gay sexual encounter online

Wednesday, September 29, 2010, 5:42 PM
Kelly Heyboer/ The Star-Ledger

PISCATAWAY — A Rutgers University freshman appears to have killed himself by jumping off the George Washington Bridge after his roommate broadcast live images of the 18-year-old having a sexual encounter with another man on the internet, according to campus and law enforcement sources.

Tyler Clementi, 18, of Ridgewood, is presumed dead after his car, cell phone and computer were found near the George Washington Bridge last week, law enforcement sources said. His wallet was found on the walkway adjacent to the New York-bound lanes. In a statement released this afternoon, Clementi’s family confirmed the suicide and said his body has not been found.

Dharun Ravi, 18, of Plainsboro, and Molly Wei, 18, of Princeton, were charged with two counts each of invasion of privacy for setting up a camera in a dorm room on Sept. 19 and using it to view and transmit a live sex scene, said Middlesex County Prosecutor Bruce Kaplan.

Paul Mainardi of Woodbury, the Clementi family's attorney, said Ravi and Clementi were roommates at Rutgers.

Ravi's Twitter feed on that date referred to seeing his roommate have sex with another man in their room on the Piscataway campus, classmates said.

"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 said on his Twitter page in a Sept. 19 entry posted at 6:17 p.m.

Two days later, Ravi posted another entry directing his nearly 150 Twitter followers to iChat, an internet messaging service with a live video feed.

"Anyone with iChat, I dare you to video chat me between the hours of 9:30 and 12. Yes it's happening again," Ravi wrote in the Sept. 21 post.

Ravi's Twitter feed has since been taken down. But the entries survived in a cached version of the page still available through Google's search engine this afternoon.

Prosecutors said Ravi and Wei set up a camera on Sept. 19 and broadcast live images of Clementi having a "sexual encounter." Ravi is also accused of trying unsuccessfully to broadcast a second sex scene Sept. 21.

The Clementi family released a statement this afternoon. "Tyler was a fine young man, and a distinguished musician. The family is heartbroken beyond words. They respectfully request that they be given time to grieve their great loss and that their privacy at this painful time be respected by all," it said.

"The family and their representatives are cooperating fully with the ongoing criminal investigations of two Rutgers University students," the statement said.

Clementi was an accomplished violinist who had received a college scholarship from the Ridgewood Symphony Orchestra for his musicianship and leadership.
The violinist left a lasting impression with some in the Bergen County town, said Hiro Kagei, 17, who played in the orchestra with the teenager. A solo Clementi played in a concert last year "blew the audience away," he said.

"Now that he’ dead, it’s sad to think we won’t hear something like that anymore," Kagei said.

On the Rutgers campus, classmates described Clementi as quiet. At a mandatory dorm meeting called the day he was reported missing, only three students said they had spoken to Clementi since they moved into the dorm last month, according to students who were at the meeting.

Ravi and Wei — who were classmates at West Windsor-Plainsboro High School North before enrolling at Rutgers this fall — did not respond to e-mail requests to comment Tuesday. Steve Altman, Ravi’s attorney, also declined to comment.

Ravi surrendered to Rutgers police Tuesday and was released on $25,000 bail, the prosecutor’s office said. Wei surrendered to the campus police Monday and was released on her own recognizance.

Under New Jersey’s invasion-of-privacy laws, it is a fourth degree crime to collect or view images depicting nudity or sexual contact involving another individual without that person’s consent, the prosecutor said. It is a third degree crime to transmit or distribute the images.

If the students are convicted on a third degree offense they could face up to five years in prison each under state law. Conviction on a fourth-degree crime could lead to probation or up to 18 months in prison.

**The Franchise** · 09-30-2010, 09:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaKCMan AP

The Wei chick's not bad.

No....she's not.

Chiefnj2 · 09-30-2010, 09:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaFace

I agree, but this goes quite a bit beyond butthurt. If the kid's 18 and his roommate didn't know he was gonna be making out with a dude, that means he was likely in the closet, and this amounted to outing him against his will all over the internet. That's a pretty traumatic thing to go through, I'd bet.

I really don't think the kid was in the closet, or was hiding his sexuality:
(Another cit2mo account exists on Cam4.com, the gay sex camming site, and includes NSFW photos of Clementi, or somebody who looks exactly like him.)

Read more: http://www.queerty.com/tyler-clement...#ixzz111ga1dCS

|Zach| · 09-30-2010, 09:18 AM

This is an interesting issue the more I think about it...

Nothing points to the kid being a complete soulless bastard. I think everyone is assuming had he known the recuperations of what he did he wouldn't have done it.

With that assumption...

Where is the line between your actions effecting someone no matter what that intent and someone letting that action take them to their grave.

What if I had some crazy thing in my head where Pez drove me bat shit crazy. Made me depressed and angry. My roomie loves Pez and eats it anyway. I kill myself. Him having that Pez was the catalyst for my death. I wouldn't have done had he not been popping those lil candies but surely he can't be held liable for my Pezphobia.

Even though it seems only charges are being brought up on invasion of privacy type stuff...

This suicide isn't as silly an non nonsensical as my little made up Pez story. I have seen people I know transition from a straight lifestyle to an openly homosexual life style some of them with success and some of them not so much. The folks that seemed to do it right did it pretty slowly...it was all carefully thought out considering the social dynamics of family, close friends, and strangers. And that process was hard enough.

I could only imagine that someone who is not outed on their terms would be going through a crazy traumatic experience. You are talking about a process that I have seen take years happen in a few secs. Your identity...the way people identify you and treat you is shaken up. Total game changer.

Wacky to think about.

Mr. Laz · 09-30-2010, 09:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jjjayb

Okay, I'll play devil's advocate here. If this situation happened, but his roommate was broadcasting video of him banging an ugly chick, would you all still feel the same way?

doesn't matter now does it

This is about the stigma of being gay and the outcome of a "prank" designed to take advantage of that stigma.

The level of a "prank" is almost completely determine by the pain that will result from a "prank". This was clearly waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay over the line.

Ravi and Wei deserve to get their asses kicked

|Zach| · 09-30-2010, 09:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chiefnj2

I really don't think the kid was in the closet, or was hiding his sexuality:
(Another cit2mo account exists on Cam4.com, the gay sex camming site, and includes NSFW photos of Clementi, or somebody who looks exactly like him.)

Read more: http://www.queerty.com/tyler-clement...#ixzz111ga1dCS

Acting out pretty much anonymously on the internet and establishing in your "real" daily life that you are gay are worlds apart. Because what are the odds you are found unless something like this happens where people are going out of their way to seek you out.

BIG_DADDY · 09-30-2010, 09:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

You don't believe it was justified here?

Yeah, he ****ed up his whole life, poor him.

The quiet little gay kid he was essentially bullying is dead.

**** that guy, I hope he gets a nightly raping in prison and with any luck, a nice batch of the HIV will knock him off slowly over the next 15 years. But hopefully not until he's forced to give handjobs for meal money after this nonsense makes him unemployable.

What a prick. His roommate was a gay musician - there's a stunner. For him to essentially announce it, record it and broadcast it is not a prank. He was not doing this in fun. He was doing this because he's a jackass that lacks a basic moral compass.

It was cruel to its very core and the little **** deserves anything he gets.

I don't do the whole sacred cow thing. Are hidden cams common place, sure. Look at any pron sight. Is that a part of college culture like under age drinking, hazing, ect. sure. Could anyone reasonably draw the conclusion that this guy would commit suicide over this, no. As far as I know out of all the college hidden cams in history this is the first time someone responded in that manner.

I am more than sure both of them were very uncomfortable having each other as roomates and this was just a very immature college way of handling it. Like I said earlier I don't think this will result in prison time but probably a felony and possibly county time. Parents better take all that money they worked so hard for and set aside for a higher education and get a good attorney. I still don't think it will save him from the felony. If he is lucky he just might be able to have ajudication witheld if they do that in that state.

**2112** · 09-30-2010, 09:23 AM

I have a friend that let everybody know that he was gay after he graduated college. it was a major announcement to his friends and family. and that was in 1987! lol!

It had to have been traumatic to the kid.

And I'll bet the other 2 are getting a free ride in college from mommy and daddy. this kid had a scholarship.

Pants · 09-30-2010, 09:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BIG_DADDY

I don't do the whole sacred cow thing. Are hidden cams common place, sure.

What the **** are you talking about?

BIG_DADDY · 09-30-2010, 09:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Metrolike

What the **** are you talking about?

Which sentence are you having a problem with? I described the second pretty much in detail throughout the post. The first I mean this shouldn't be handled any differently than if anyone else had been the victim of being filmed in their dorm room.

Mr. Laz · 09-30-2010, 09:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Laces Out Dan

so him and some dude could perform homosexual acts in my room while I was gone. That's just gross.

example of why this "prank" was such a ****ed up thing to do. There are still tons of small-minded ****heads around that can't get over it.

i would like to assume your only 14 yrs old or something but sadly there are many grow people with that same stupid **** attitude.

lemme guess, if your roommate was a girl and she ask you to leave so she could make out with another girl you would be ok with it, because "that's hawt"?

Chiefnj2 · 09-30-2010, 09:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by |Zach|

Acting out pretty much anonymously on the internet and establishing in your "real" daily life that you are gay are worlds apart. Because what are the odds you are found unless something like this happens where people are going out of their way to seek you out.

I didn't look at the photos referenced in the article that say there are NSFW photos of the kid (honestly) but if it says the pictures look exactly like him, then they probably show his face. 3 weeks into school, inviting guys over to your dorm room to have sex doesn't equal being in the closet and keeping your sexuality a secret.

His posts on the internet dont' say anything about - "now everyone knows I'm gay", or "my parents will find out", etc. It's all about an invasion of privacy (I agree) and a crappy thing his roommate did (I agree).

Mr. Laz · 09-30-2010, 09:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

You don't believe it was justified here?

Yeah, he ****ed up his whole life, poor him.

The quiet little gay kid he was essentially bullying is dead.

**** that guy, I hope he gets a nightly raping in prison and with any luck, a nice batch of the HIV will knock him off slowly over the next 15 years. But hopefully not until he's forced to give handjobs for meal money after this nonsense makes him unemployable.

What a prick. His roommate was a gay musician - there's a stunner. For him to essentially announce it, record it and broadcast it is not a prank. He was not doing this in fun. He was doing this because he's a jackass that lacks a basic moral compass.

It was cruel to its very core and the little **** deserves anything he gets.

well said

Jenson71 · 09-30-2010, 09:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by |Zach|

Where is the line between your actions effecting someone no matter what that intent and someone letting that action take them to their grave.

What if I had some crazy thing in my head where Pez drove me bat shit crazy. Made me depressed and angry. My roomie loves Pez and eats it anyway. I kill myself. Him having that Pez was the catalyst for my death. I wouldn't have done had he not been popping those lil candies but surely he can't be held liable for my Pezphobia.

Your roommate would not be held liable for that. The worst that would happen is if he knew that you had a Pezphobia that would lead to serious bodily injury or death, and he still did it. Then he could be tried for negligence, probably intentionally inflicted emotional distress.

Generally, unintentional torts come up through physical things: battery. But the law does not tend to pyscho-analyze the minds of actors, as that's very imprecise.

|Zach| · 09-30-2010, 09:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chiefnj2

I didn't look at the photos referenced in the article that say there are NSFW photos of the kid (honestly) but if it says the pictures look exactly like him, then they probably show his face. 3 weeks into school, inviting guys over to your dorm room to have sex doesn't equal being in the closet and keeping your sexuality a secret.

His posts on the internet dont' say anything about - "now everyone knows I'm gay", or "my parents will find out", etc. It's all about an invasion of privacy (I agree) and a crappy thing his roommate did (I agree).

Eh, throwing out stuff on the far reaches of the internet? Shuffling around with people late in college?

Sounds like pretty classic under the wraps type stuff.

Hug it Out Dan · 09-30-2010, 09:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by |Zach|

Not really convinced this is necessarily a gay anything issue.

Everything that is out there makes it look like it had a huge effect on the consequence which was the death but I am not convinced it had anything to do with the intent.

In other words...I bet this video taping happens if he is with a chick.

Thats kinda my thought as well.

09-29-2010, 11:34 PM
jAZ Supporter Join Date: Apr 2001 Location: Tucson, AZ Casino cash: $9817493	Rutgers freshman suicide after roommate broadcast gay sexual encounter online? Wow. Prank gone waaay wrong. http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/201...gers_post.html Rutgers freshman is presumed dead in suicide after roommate broadcast gay sexual encounter online Wednesday, September 29, 2010, 5:42 PM Kelly Heyboer/ The Star-Ledger PISCATAWAY — A Rutgers University freshman appears to have killed himself by jumping off the George Washington Bridge after his roommate broadcast live images of the 18-year-old having a sexual encounter with another man on the internet, according to campus and law enforcement sources. Tyler Clementi, 18, of Ridgewood, is presumed dead after his car, cell phone and computer were found near the George Washington Bridge last week, law enforcement sources said. His wallet was found on the walkway adjacent to the New York-bound lanes. In a statement released this afternoon, Clementi’s family confirmed the suicide and said his body has not been found. Dharun Ravi, 18, of Plainsboro, and Molly Wei, 18, of Princeton, were charged with two counts each of invasion of privacy for setting up a camera in a dorm room on Sept. 19 and using it to view and transmit a live sex scene, said Middlesex County Prosecutor Bruce Kaplan. Paul Mainardi of Woodbury, the Clementi family's attorney, said Ravi and Clementi were roommates at Rutgers. Ravi's Twitter feed on that date referred to seeing his roommate have sex with another man in their room on the Piscataway campus, classmates said. "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 said on his Twitter page in a Sept. 19 entry posted at 6:17 p.m. Two days later, Ravi posted another entry directing his nearly 150 Twitter followers to iChat, an internet messaging service with a live video feed. "Anyone with iChat, I dare you to video chat me between the hours of 9:30 and 12. Yes it's happening again," Ravi wrote in the Sept. 21 post. Ravi's Twitter feed has since been taken down. But the entries survived in a cached version of the page still available through Google's search engine this afternoon. Prosecutors said Ravi and Wei set up a camera on Sept. 19 and broadcast live images of Clementi having a "sexual encounter." Ravi is also accused of trying unsuccessfully to broadcast a second sex scene Sept. 21. The Clementi family released a statement this afternoon. "Tyler was a fine young man, and a distinguished musician. The family is heartbroken beyond words. They respectfully request that they be given time to grieve their great loss and that their privacy at this painful time be respected by all," it said. "The family and their representatives are cooperating fully with the ongoing criminal investigations of two Rutgers University students," the statement said. Clementi was an accomplished violinist who had received a college scholarship from the Ridgewood Symphony Orchestra for his musicianship and leadership. The violinist left a lasting impression with some in the Bergen County town, said Hiro Kagei, 17, who played in the orchestra with the teenager. A solo Clementi played in a concert last year "blew the audience away," he said. "Now that he’ dead, it’s sad to think we won’t hear something like that anymore," Kagei said. On the Rutgers campus, classmates described Clementi as quiet. At a mandatory dorm meeting called the day he was reported missing, only three students said they had spoken to Clementi since they moved into the dorm last month, according to students who were at the meeting. Ravi and Wei — who were classmates at West Windsor-Plainsboro High School North before enrolling at Rutgers this fall — did not respond to e-mail requests to comment Tuesday. Steve Altman, Ravi’s attorney, also declined to comment. Ravi surrendered to Rutgers police Tuesday and was released on $25,000 bail, the prosecutor’s office said. Wei surrendered to the campus police Monday and was released on her own recognizance. Under New Jersey’s invasion-of-privacy laws, it is a fourth degree crime to collect or view images depicting nudity or sexual contact involving another individual without that person’s consent, the prosecutor said. It is a third degree crime to transmit or distribute the images. If the students are convicted on a third degree offense they could face up to five years in prison each under state law. Conviction on a fourth-degree crime could lead to probation or up to 18 months in prison.
Posts: 24,800

09-30-2010, 09:18 AM	#48
\|Zach\| For The Glory Of The City Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Kansas City Casino cash: $3146768	This is an interesting issue the more I think about it... Nothing points to the kid being a complete soulless bastard. I think everyone is assuming had he known the recuperations of what he did he wouldn't have done it. With that assumption... Where is the line between your actions effecting someone no matter what that intent and someone letting that action take them to their grave. What if I had some crazy thing in my head where Pez drove me bat shit crazy. Made me depressed and angry. My roomie loves Pez and eats it anyway. I kill myself. Him having that Pez was the catalyst for my death. I wouldn't have done had he not been popping those lil candies but surely he can't be held liable for my Pezphobia. Even though it seems only charges are being brought up on invasion of privacy type stuff... This suicide isn't as silly an non nonsensical as my little made up Pez story. I have seen people I know transition from a straight lifestyle to an openly homosexual life style some of them with success and some of them not so much. The folks that seemed to do it right did it pretty slowly...it was all carefully thought out considering the social dynamics of family, close friends, and strangers. And that process was hard enough. I could only imagine that someone who is not outed on their terms would be going through a crazy traumatic experience. You are talking about a process that I have seen take years happen in a few secs. Your identity...the way people identify you and treat you is shaken up. Total game changer. Wacky to think about.
Posts: 54,691

09-30-2010, 09:23 AM	#52
2112 Reset Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Parts Unknown Casino cash: $6936765	I have a friend that let everybody know that he was gay after he graduated college. it was a major announcement to his friends and family. and that was in 1987! lol! It had to have been traumatic to the kid. And I'll bet the other 2 are getting a free ride in college from mommy and daddy. this kid had a scholarship.
Posts: 22,277