Roommate Charged with Hate Crime in Tyler Clementi Case

Tyler Clementi was a "promising violinist."

Here’s some positive news for those of us who are deeply concerned about the toxic effects of bullying on young people.

A former Rutgers University freshman was indicted Wednesday for secretly viewing a same-sex encounter involving his roommate – who later jumped to his death from the George Washington Bridge.

Dharun Ravi, 19, of Plainsboro, N.J., could face up to 5 years in prison if convicted of the top charges in the 15-count indictment announced by Middlesex County prosecutor Bruce Kaplan.

Ravi was charged by a grand jury with bias intimidation, invasion of privacy and witness and evidence tampering for using a webcam to spy on Tyler Clementi’s dorm room date with another man.

It was demonstrated to the Grand Jury that Ravi knew of Clementi’s sexual orientation and deliberately planned to publicly humiliate him. Ravi twice activated a webcam in the room and tried to stream Tyler’s romantic encounters on the internet. After the suicide, Ravi made significant efforts to cover up his behavior and asked friends to cover for him. Ravi’s co-conspiritor Molly Wei had previously been charged with invasion of privacy, along with Ravi, but Wei was not indicted by the Grand Jury. It’s possible that she cooperated with investigators.

Prosecutors have said that Ravi used Wei’s computer in her dorm room to activate a webcam on a computer in his room to view and stream Clementi’s encounter. Prosecutors said Ravi tried the same thing during a second encounter Sept. 21, the day before Clementi’s suicide.

Ravi posted a message on his now-closed Twitter account on Sept. 19 that read: “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.”

Two days later, he wrote on Twitter: “Anyone with iChat, I dare you to video chat me between the hours of 9:30 and 12. Yes it’s happening again.”

Tyler’s parents, who knew of his sexual orientation, said through their attorney:

“The grand jury indictment spells out cold and calculated acts against our son, Tyler, by his former college roommate,” Clementi’s parents, Jane and Joe Clementi, said in a statement. “If these facts are true, as they appear to be, then it is important for our criminal justice system to establish clear accountability under the law.”

They also said that they hope to start a foundation in their Tyler’s name. Their goal would be to heighten public “awareness about bullying, privacy rights, and the Internet.”