Rutgers freshman suicide after roommate broadcast gay sexual encounter online?

[jAZ]

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.

[Pants]

Originally Posted by BIG_DADDY

Any pron sight has a whole section on hidden cams. I think it's ridiculous but it is what it is. I am certainly not condoning it by any stretch.

It's ****ing staged, dude. And even if it's not, you're looking at what, a couple hundred videos, maybe a thousand? Make it even a few thousand. Now think how many kids go to the schools in the US and now think about the definition of "common place".

[BIG_DADDY]

Originally Posted by |Zach|

Yes.

Not saying it doesn't happen. But I felt like parts of this conversation where misrepresenting it as "common place" which I don't think it is.

Also...when it comes to the Pron sites. A lot of that hidden stuff is easily staged.

I wouldn't know, I'll leave that to you photo/camera specialists.

[patteeu]

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.

The voyeurs didn't kill the kid, the kid killed himself.

[|Zach|]

Originally Posted by BIG_DADDY

I wouldn't know, I'll leave that to you photo/camera specialists.

Or pervs.

[|Zach|]

Now you wanna see a rise in webcam sexually related activities?

Just wait until Facebook and Skype unveil this deeply integrated partnership that has been rumored to be released soon.

[|Zach|]

That asian girl is cute.

[Mr. Laz]

Originally Posted by Laces Out Dan

Uh no, if he was with a girl I would just think he was trying to get ass......which is normal.

Are you saying you wouldn't mind it if your (gay) roomate told you to leave your room dorm room so he could suck some guy off?

I'd tell him to **** off and he can go do that gross shit somewhere else.

My response would be based on the inconvenience of having to leave the room not whether it was gay or straight sex.

If he was constantly asking me to bail or if i had a big test i had to study for then i would tell him to find somewhere else. If i was just kicking around then it's cool, give your roomie some space.

If your response depends on whether it's gay/straight sex then you have issues imo.

[MMXcalibur]

Matt Cassel sucks.

[BIG_DADDY]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

There should be.

If you go around mocking a guy that can't run as fast as you because he's in a wheelchair, that's a pretty dick move.

If you go announce to the lockerroom that your buddy's sister is a transsexual after he cock-blocks you, that's a dick move. Pointing out the chick's package is a damn sight worse than pointing out that your buddy's only sporting 4 inches.

You're intentionally throwing people the the wolves when you know there's a societal stigma attached to it. That matters and it matters a lot.

It's irrelevant if you believe in sacred cows, a VAST majority of the populace does. It's absolutely relevant to the discussion that this kid's roommate threw him out there with an absolute intent to ridicule him for something that is not societally accepted.

It was cruel, it was intentional, and the little **** deserves to get roasted over it.

Wow dude, this seems to really have you upset. I can't speak for everyone but I don't think the majority are for hate crime legislation or double standards. I certainly am not. I am not saying intent should not be taken into account. If you filmed your roomate banging a girl you wish you were just to embarrass her because she rejected you it would be along the same lines. Once again though the expectation could never have been what the outcome was here.

[BIG_DADDY]

Originally Posted by |Zach|

That asian girl is cute.

yea, should have filmed her and sent us a link.

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by patteeu

The voyeurs didn't kill the kid, the kid killed himself.

That's true.

And I'm not inclined to defend the suicide, it was an unreasonable reaction.

At the same time, this was the guys roommate and the kid was known to be a quiet kid. Have you ever known anyone to be that painfully shy that didn't take things like this very hard?

His roommate knew this and just didn't give a !@#$. That makes his conduct even more reprehensible.

Consider it the old 'eggshell skull' concept. When you wrong someone, you're open to the consequences of their particular proclivities, especially if you already know about them. If you know someone is unreasonably attached to their pet (I dunno, death in the family, kid turns to the dog) and you lay out a bowl of anti-freeze for it, that's a lot different than putting bleach in someone's goldfish bowl.

You take your victim as you find him and this guy at least knew his roommate was painfully shy. He also seems to have known that the gay thing could really tweak him.

He seized on this and took it as far as it can go. The victims reaction was unreasonable, but the perp's conduct was abhorrent. He deserves whatever he gets.

[The Franchise]

Originally Posted by |Zach|

That asian girl is cute.

Meh. I've seen WAY better looking asian girls.

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by BIG_DADDY

Wow dude, this seems to really have you upset. I can't speak for everyone but I don't think the majority are for hate crime legislation or double standards. I certainly am not. I am not saying intent should not be taken into account. If you filmed your roomate banging a girl you wish you were just to embarrass her because she rejected you it would be along the same lines. Once again though the expectation could never have been what the outcome was here.

I disagree.

If you film a girl blowing a horse because you're mad she wouldn't blow you, it's along the same lines. If you record you roommate nailing his sister because she shot you down, it's along the same lines.

This isn't as simple as a guy doing an ugly chick or a girl being a slut. It's outing a guy and simultaneously ridiculing him for it. There's just very little that can compare to that. I don't see much in the way of analogs there.

[patteeu]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

That's true.

And I'm not inclined to defend the suicide, it was an unreasonable reaction.

At the same time, this was the guys roommate and the kid was known to be a quiet kid. Have you ever known anyone to be that painfully shy that didn't take things like this very hard?

His roommate knew this and just didn't give a !@#$. That makes his conduct even more reprehensible.

Consider it the old 'eggshell skull' concept. When you wrong someone, you're open to the consequences of their particular proclivities, especially if you already know about them. If you know someone is unreasonably attached to their pet (I dunno, death in the family, kid turns to the dog) and you lay out a bowl of anti-freeze for it, that's a lot different than putting bleach in someone's goldfish bowl.

You take your victim as you find him and this guy at least knew his roommate was painfully shy. He also seems to have known that the gay thing could really tweak him.

He seized on this and took it as far as it can go. The victims reaction was unreasonable, but the perp's conduct was abhorrent. He deserves whatever he gets.

a) I was never a fan of the "eggshell skull" concept precisely because there are people who try to extend it beyond reason.

b) The "eggshell skull" concept can only take you so far. I'm sure you'd agree that the pez popper in |Zach|'s example shouldn't get in trouble just because he roomed with a guy with an extraordinarily fragile "eggshell skull". I don't think it was at all reasonable for these bullying kids to expect their target to off himself.

[|Zach|]

Originally Posted by Pestilence

Meh. I've seen WAY better looking asian girls.

Ok well that will be an apt response if I am to ever post "that is hands down the best looking asian chick in the world"