Tyler Clementi Suicide: Accused Students Withdraw from Rutgers

By: Edecio Martinez
Topics: Daily Blotter

From Left to Right: Molly Wei, Tyler Clementi, Dharun Ravi (CBS/Personal Photo)

NEW YORK (CBS/WCBS/AP) The two Rutgers University freshmen accused of broadcasting video online of fellow freshman Tyler Clementi having sex with another man have withdrawn from the school.

PICTURES: Tyler Clementi

After the broadcast, Clementi jumped off the George Washington Bridge to his death.

The two students, Dharun Ravi, who was Clementi's rommate, and Molly Wei, will not face university disciplinary hearings, according to Ravi's attorney, Steven Altman.

"They were given the option of withdrawing and they can reapply,'' Altman told a local paper. "Realistically, they couldn't go back no matter what. He definitely plans to go somewhere else.''

Wei's attorney, Rubin Sinins, told The Star-Ledger of Newark his client feared for her safety.

Ravi and Wei have been charged with invasion of privacy.

Middlesex County prosecutors say the pair, both 18, used a webcam to secretly transmit a live image of Clementi having sex with a man on Sept. 19 and that Ravi tried to webcast a second encounter on Sept. 21, the day before Clementi's suicide.

Under New Jersey's privacy law it is a crime to transmit or even view images that depict nudity or sexual contact with an individual without that person's consent, reports CBS affiliate WCBS. Collecting or viewing sexual images without consent is a fourth-degree crime. Transmitting them is a third-degree crime with a maximum prison sentence of five years.

Both Ravi and Wei could face up to five years in prison if convicted. Prosecutors are considering hate crime charges.

COMPLETE COVERAGE OF TYLER CLEMENTI ON CRIMESIDER

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Tyler Clementi: Rutgers Suicide

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by bompins November 1, 2010 3:39 PM EDT: No! to jail time. This guy chose to get it on with another guy, was embarrassed by it, so whose fault is that other than his?? Don't be a queer and you can't be exposed as a queer. Simple logic.; Reply to this comment


by bompins November 1, 2010 3:38 PM EDT: Why did this guy go and commit suicide if being gay was something to be so proud of? Has anyone considered that perhaps the reason he killed himself is that what he was doing, i.e. the lifestyle he was living was so wrong that he was so overwhelmingly embarrassed that he was found out that the only option he had was to kill himself to spare him the shame?
Just another example of how our society has eroded. We don't focus on the problem of homosexuality and how it is a wrong and destructive lifestyle. Rather we try to shift the blame to the people who exposed his unnatural and wrong lifestyle.
The bottom line is that homosexuals are ashamed of themselves and want so badly to be accepted by everyone, so that is why we have these ridiculous "hate crimes" that are designed to outlaw speech that reminds homosexuals of their demented state (and also against Muslims who are plotting to kill us).
Where has sanity gone? Where has common sense decency gone?; Reply to this comment

by OHwhy November 1, 2010 7:21 AM EDT

How long do I have to be subjected to this tyler clementi freak's face on my home page? It has been a week at least. And then how long before that?

I could care less about him. He had a mental problem, or he would not have jumped off a bridge. Darwin selected, he was found weak, now get over it.

Lets get back to some real news here, and not this **** stuff crammed down my throat.

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by krj9 November 1, 2010 8:28 AM EDT: *****


by ckelley116 November 1, 2010 2:25 PM EDT: What a disgusting, pathetic excuse for a human being you are. I seriously hope you don't procreate. The world already has enough monsters without you and your spawn walking among us.


by longtree-2009 November 1, 2010 5:03 AM EDT: there is no privacy anymore, anywhere, anyplace. best sweep an area for cameras, audio, bugs before you do anything that you would never want to be made public. even your current significant other could be taping you without your permission. husbands, wives, bf, gf do it to one another. then there are the various flavors of sex offenders, bullies and et al that tape others secretly.; Reply to this comment


by vielmann November 1, 2010 2:58 AM EDT: This is just the dangerous nonsense of youth. Too many kids think that life is like some MTV Real World entertainment. I don't think these two kids really even thought about the consequences of their actions. Sadly, they now know the hard way. But I'm not into making them suffer forever. Let them learn, and let them teach others about this tragedy and their role in it. While I don't blame the victim here, it's sad that he didn't have the coping skills to see that there was better solution than taking his own life. There is always a better day ahead.; Reply to this comment

by inachu1 October 31, 2010 1:48 PM EDT

Molly Wei looks so sweet and pretty.
I would love to marry her.

I know she does not mean to kill someone.

XOXOXOX

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by Ceres6 October 31, 2010 9:16 PM EDT: Are you sure? To me she looks as sweet as a black widow spider.


by OHwhy November 1, 2010 7:25 AM EDT: Who said she killed anyone? Moron. The knucklehead killed himself.


by cjame1220 October 31, 2010 11:05 AM EDT: cptdeuce writes that Tyler 'chose' to kill himself. After those two decided to ruin his life & reputation, what other choice did he have? Could he haved moved somewhere else where this story would not be known? I sincerely doubt it; access to the web is world-wide. I agree with the writer who says that the college should have expelled those students who thought it would be 'fun' to humiliate this young man. Every student who attends a college represents that college. I'm a college student; I would never do anything to make my school look bad. I think Rutger's should have higher standards on student behavior.; Reply to this comment


by alex_glaz October 31, 2010 8:13 AM EDT: They both should be deported to the countries of their origins; and I mean not where they were littered but where their ancestral origins were really from: India and China.; Reply to this comment


by alex_glaz October 31, 2010 8:09 AM EDT: They both should be deported to the countries of their origins; and I mean not where they were littered but where their ancestral origins were really from: India and China.; Reply to this comment


by luvtocooke October 31, 2010 7:54 AM EDT: I don't agree with the fact that this is not a hate crime, it is. If Tyler had been heterosexual, there would have been no video tape. Very few people knew he was gay, so these two decided to have him come "out of the closet" so to speak by videotaping his private encounter. Their intention was most definitely to humiliate and embarrass him simply because he was gay. And no, you cannot force someone to commit suicide, but clearly their actions are contributory. At the very least, they should have been expelled, not allowed to withdraw. I am disappointed with the University. I hope they receive the maximum allowable punishment by law.; Reply to this comment