By Geoffrey Wertime, Staff Writer
In the days since two area Rutgers University freshmen were charged with invading the privacy of a third student who apparently committed suicide following the events, the case has drawn international attention to the problem of gay teenagers committing suicide.
On Sunday, hundreds of Rutgers students attended a vigil in honor of Tyler Clementi at the school’s New Brunswick campus. The 18-year-old leapt off the George Washington Bridge last week after his apparent roommate, Plainsboro resident Dharun Ravi, and Mr. Ravi’s friend Molly W. Wei of West Windsor, allegedly broadcast video of Mr. Clementi having a sexual encounter with another man.
Numerous gay rights groups have scheduled additional vigils for Wednesday, again at the New Brunswick campus, and Thursday in Mr. Clementi’s hometown of Ridgewood.
Mr. Ravi and Ms. Wei, both graduates of West Windsor-Plainsboro Regional High School North’s Class of 2010, were charged Sept. 28 with two counts each of invasion of privacy. The most serious of those charges can lead to sentences of five years in prison.
The pair stands accused of secretly placing a video camera in another student’s room in a dormitory and transmitting the video online, according to an announcement from Middlesex County Prosecutor Bruce J. Kaplan and Rutgers University Police Chief Rhonda Harris. The prosecutor’s office said the pair transmitted “a live image” of an 18-year-old student in a sexual situation.
Mr. Ravi was also charged with two additional counts of invasion of privacy for allegedly trying to use the camera to see and transmit another encounter with the victim on Sept. 21, according to the prosecutor’s office. A feed on the microblogging site Twitter that is no longer posted but was listed as being registered to a Dharun Ravi appeared to describe the events alleged by the prosecutor’s office, and the poster appeared to invite his “followers” to view a live video stream the day before Mr. Clementi’s death.
The prosecutor’s office has said it is considering adding charges of bias, but a spokesman said Monday the office had yet to reach a decision and no court dates had yet been set. New Jersey has some of the nation’s strongest laws protecting people against discrimination based on their sexual orientation or gender identity.
Statewide lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights group Garden State Equality last week called on high schools to better educate their students about bullying before they graduate and go off to college and for Mr. Ravi and Ms. Wei to face the maximum possible penalties for their alleged actions.
”There are no words sufficient to express our range of feelings today. 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. As this case makes its way through the legal system, we can only hope the alleged perpetrators receive the maximum possible sentence,” said GSE Chair Steven Goldstein.
Mr. Clementi’s parents, Jane and Joe, have communicated with the press only through their attorney, Paul Mainardi of Woodbury-based Brown & Connery, and have kept funeral services private. On Friday, Mr. Mainardi sent another statement from the family to reporters.
”Needless to say, public attention has been intense. We ask that our request for privacy in this painful time continue to be respected,” the release said.
”The outpouring of emotion and support from our friends, community and family and from people across the country has been humbling and deeply moving. We thank each of you from the bottom of our hearts.
”We understand that our family’s personal tragedy presents important legal issues for the country as well as for us. Regardless of legal outcomes, our hope is that our family’s personal tragedy will serve as a call for compassion, empathy and human dignity.”
Mr. Clementi was an award-winning musician who played violin in several orchestras, and reportedly was not openly gay. Now, over 100,000 users of the social networking site Facebook have “liked” web pages honoring his memory.
In a statement Friday, Rutgers President Richard L. McCormick said the university has a long history of diversity and acceptance but also acknowledged the loss of Mr. Clementi and the need to become more accepting. He also said he planned to meet with leaders from the school’s LGBT community to work out how to make the school more welcoming.
”Rutgers is an imperfect institution in an imperfect society, but we are always striving to find better ways to make every student feel comfortable and fully empowered. We have the opportunity and the obligation to be a model for universities across the country. Let us work together to make that happen,” he said.
Someone at the office of Mr. Ravi’s attorney, Steven Altman of law firm Benedict & Altman of New Brunswick, said Mr. Altman would not comment on the ongoing investigation. Ms. Wei’s attorney, William Fox of Graham Curtin & Sheridan of Morristown, did not return calls seeking comment.
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