Update} Tyler Clementi, Student, Gay Who Killed Himself After Finding his Secret Sex Life Plastered all Over the Net
Tyler Clementi was an 18-year-old Rutgers University freshman who killed himself in September 2010 after discovering that his roommate had secretly used a webcam to stream Mr. Clementi's romantic interlude with another man over the Internet.
Mr. Clementi’s suicide focused national attention on the victimization of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender youth. Public figures including Ellen DeGeneres and President Obama spoke out about the tragedy; New Jersey legislators enacted the nation’s toughest law against bullying; and there were calls from many quarters for prosecutors to bring bias charges.
In January, New Jersey enacted the nation’s toughest law against bullying and harassment. And Rutgers responded in several ways. Among other things, it announced a plan to introduce gender-neutral housing — co-ed dorm rooms for gay, lesbian and transgender students who request it — and new staff training in suicide awareness.
In April 2011, a New Jersey grand jury indicted Mr. Clementi’s roommate,Dharun Ravi, on hate-crime charges.
Mr. Ravi and another student, Molly Wei, were initially charged with invasion of privacy. In accusing Mr. Ravi of acting with antigay motives, the indictment exposes him to a potential sentence of at least 5 to 10 years in prison if convicted, as opposed to the probation that would probably have resulted if Mr. Ravi were convicted only on the earlier counts.
The grand jury also charged Mr. Ravi with a cover-up. The Middlesex County prosecutor’s office said he had deleted a Twitter post that alerted others to watch a second encounter Mr. Clementi planned with the man and replaced it with a post “intended to mislead the investigation.” Prosecutors said Mr. Ravi had also tried to persuade witnesses not to testify.
Mr. Ravi was charged with additional counts of attempted invasion of privacy for trying to carry out a second live transmission. The authorities said he tried to use the camera a second time and boasted on Twitter that he had seen his roommate “making out with a dude.” That attempt was thwarted after Mr. Clementi found the camera aimed at his bed.
After discovering that his roommate had spied on him, the authorities said, Mr. Clementi, an aspiring violinist from Ridgewood, N.J., jumped from the George Washington Bridge on Sept. 22.
Ms. Wei, who lived in the same dormitory and was also charged with invasion of privacy, was not indicted. The prosecutor said that the case against her remained active but would not be presented to a grand jury “at this time,” suggesting that she could testify against Mr. Ravi.
Anonymous postings that appear to have come from Mr. Clementi, identified after his death in the forums of a gay chat site, show a student wrestling with his rising indignation over a breach of privacy and trying to figure out how best to respond.
Classmates say Mr. Clementi mostly kept to himself. Danielle Birnbohm, a freshman who lived across the hall from him in Davidson Hall, said that when a counselor asked how many students had known Mr. Clementi, only 3 students out of 50 raised their hands.
The Star-Ledger of Newark reported that Mr. Clementi posted a note on his Facebook page the day of his death: “Jumping off the gw bridge sorry.” Friends and strangers have turned the page into a memorial.
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