Wednesday, September 29th, 2010
NEW YORK (BNO NEWS) – A Rutgers University student on Wednesday killed himself after two classmates filmed and then posted a video of his sex life on the Internet, the New York Daily News reported.
Tyler Clementi, a freshman at Rutgers, left his wallet on the George Washington Bridge before jumping to his death in the Hudson River after his sexual preferences were shown in the Internet video.
Clementi, 18, wrote a goodbye message on his Facebook page before committing suicide. His last post, dated September 22 at 8.42 p.m. EDT read: "Jumping of the gw (George Washington) bridge sorry." At least two people saw him standing on the south side of the bridge at around 8.50 p.m. EDT.
"Tyler was a fine young man, and a distinguished musician. The family is heartbroken beyond words. They respectfully request that they be given time to grieve their great loss and that their privacy at this painful time be respected by all," Paul Mainardi, the family attorney, said.
Dharun Ravi and Molly Wei were arrested on Tuesday on cyber-voyeurism charges for streaming Clementi's sexual encounter on the Internet. Ravi posted on Twitter a message 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."
The Twitter post was made on September 19, mere days before Clementi's suicide. Ravi and Molly, both aged 18, were charged with two counts each of invasion of privacy. Ravi was also charged with two counts of invasion of privacy for trying to arrange the airing of a second session on September 21.
The pair faces up to five years in prison per count. The two students were on the Piscataway campus less than a month before their arrests.
A Facebook memorial group created in honor of Clementi already has hundreds of members, many of whom are fellow graduates of Ridgewood High School in New Jersey where Clementi graduated last spring.
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