Alleged Tyler Clementi harasser Molly Wei makes deal to avoid trial
(CBS/WCBS/AP) NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. - Molly Wei, one of two former Rutgers students accused of using a webcam to spy on another student's gay sexual encounter, made her first court appearance Friday.
Wei, 19, has been admitted into a pre-trial intervention program. This allows her to potentially avoid jail time and a criminal record.
The agreement requires Wei to cooperate with prosecutors and complete 300 hours of community service, in addition to getting a job. If she does all of that for three years, prosecutors would drop the two counts of invasion of privacy against her.
Clementi's parents issued a statement regarding Wei's deal, saying they don't object to it, reports CBS station WCBS.
Wei was not indicted, but her friend and former classmate Dharun Ravi was.
Ravi faces 15 criminal counts including bias intimidation, his most serious charge, for allegedly using his laptop to remotely turn on the webcam in the room he shared with Clementi.
Clementi jumped off the George Washington Bridge into the Hudson River shortly after authorities say Ravi and Wei used a webcam to view his liaison.
The death of Clementi, in his first weeks at college, came amid a string of high-profile suicides of young people who were gay or perceived to be gay.
Partly because of his high-profile death and the other circumstances surrounding his suicide, Clementi became a face of the issue.
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Coverage of Tyler Clementi on Crimesider
