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[UPDATE] Rutgers Students Charged For Filming Friend's "Sexual Encounter"


By

Jaya Saxena

Published Sep 29, 2010

Modified Sep 29, 2010


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By

Jaya Saxena

Published Sep 29, 2010

Modified Sep 29, 2010


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[UPDATE BELOW] Remember that time in college where you brought someone home and your roommate thought it'd be really funny to hide in the closet with your friends while the whole thing was going down? Be glad they didn't have the Internet. Two Rutgers freshman were charged with invasion of privacy after placing a camera in a friend's dorm room to broadcast the "sexual encounter" live on the Internet, and now, the subject of the prank is believed to have committed suicide.

Dharun Ravi, 18, of Plainsboro, and Molly Wei,18, of Princeton were both charged with two counts of invasion of privacy for the September 19th incident, and Ravi was charged with two more counts for allegedly trying to pull the same prank two days later. Investigators will not say how many people may have watched the live feed, but on September 22nd, the day after the second attempt to broadcast the feed, Ravi posted 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."

Authorities say the 18-year-old victim from Ridgewood, NJ is believed to have jumped from the George Washington bridge on September 23rd. The victim's car, containing his cell phone and computer, was found nearby. Ravi was released on $25,000 bail and Wei on her own recognizance. Both face up to five years in jail.

[UPDATE] Though it was deleted, Gawker managed to find a cache of Dharun Ravi's Twitter page, which shows one update from September 19th saying, "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."

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hidden camera

internet

invasion of privacy

rutgers

suicide


Jaya Saxena

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