Tyler Clementi Suicide: Ex-Rutgers Student, Molly Wei, Avoids Jail

Molly Wei, the former Rutgers University freshmen accused of using a webcam to watch a male classmate's sexual encounter with another man, has been approved for a pretrial intervention program that will allow her to avoid criminal prosecution.

Under the deal with prosecutors, Wei, 18, of Princeton, N.J., pleaded not guilty Friday to two counts of invasion of privacy, according to the Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office.

In September, Wei and fellow 18-year-old freshman Dharun Ravi, of Plainsboro, N.J., were charged with two counts each of invasion of privacy for allegedly using a camera to view a live image of 18-year-old Tyler Clementi during a sexual encounter. Clementi, a resident of Ridgewood, N.J., was Ravi’s roommate.

On Sept. 21, Clementi posted a message online saying how upset he was over the spying. The following day, he leaped from the George Washington Bridge.

In April, a grand jury indicted Ravi on 15 counts, including a count of bias intimidation, which alone could result in a 10-year prison sentence.

As part of the pretrial intervention, Wei must attend counseling in cyberbulling and in dealing with alternative and cultural differences. She must also complete 300 hours of community service and testify against Ravi.

If Wei completes the program without getting into any additional trouble, all charges will be dropped, the prosecutor's office said.

Following today's hearing, Wei’s lawyers spoke briefly with reporters outside the Middlesex County Courthouse.

"Molly Wei should not be a poster child for this," attorney Eric Kahn said. Her other lawyer, Rubin Sinins, added: "Molly Wei is not a bully."

Clementi's parents, Joe and Jane Clementi, were present during the court proceeding. Afterwards, Joe Clementi read from a prepared statement.

"We wish that Miss Wei will become a person who will make better decisions," he said, adding that he hopes she "will help people, and show kindness to those she comes in contact with."

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Comments

[cookgirl71]

11:26 PM on 05/09/2011

But she should be a poster child for this crime. Invasion of privacy, intent to commit a malicious act to another person. Forget about a plea bargain. Will we ever know if she was the mastermind of this crime or just the accomplice. It is sad that she only gets a slap on the wrist for this crime

[craftycrow]

01:17 PM on 05/09/2011

Let me firstly say that I think it was awful of those 2 to film him. That being said, ridiculous things happen in college all the time. I don't know how to stop it or if it will ever stop. I'm on the fence as to whether kids should be jailed for this type of thing. No one knows how pranks will affect someone. A family friend committed suicide last week, because he got in a fight with his mom. Should his mom go to jail? I have a friend who constantly makes fun of my feet; if I killed myself because of it, should she go to jail? These are just things I think of. It was a stupid idea to film him, but if we all went to jail for 10 years because of some dumb prank gone wrong....

[Nigel Hessing]

05:09 PM on 05/08/2011

What would they receive if Tyler didn't commit suicide?
I think it's very easy to hype up the situation (I'm gay myself) especially post factum but it seems to me that this event was not the only thing in Tyler's life that made him commit suicide.

I certainly do not condone their behaviour but it's going a little too far and presumptuous to say that this is the only factor that caused Tyler's death. I'm more concerned about the fact that he felt there were no other options (which could have been provided by the University).

It's also sad to think that homosexuality to these two people is that big of a deal in this day and age. What would have happened if he was heterosexual? Would they have even cared or would it have caused such controversy?

[Fletch17C]

10:46 AM on 05/09/2011

Rarely does a person commit self-murder over one thing. The webcam incident was probably a "last straw." I wonder if Tyler hadn't been bullied in some way throughout high school and had hoped that he would have a new start a Rutgers. If so, this incident could have been all the more devastating to him.

As for Wei, she seems like a very weak person. From what I understand, Ravi set up the webcam and then came into Wei's room to watch the stream on her computer. Wei would not be in this position right now had she simply been strong enough to say, "No. We will not do this. This is wrong."

[zeliasgrand]

10:50 PM on 05/09/2011

You are exactly RIGHT! She failed to take action and now she wants to be bailed out for it. I am very disappointed that she is going to be able to avoid the consequences of her inaction. She may not see herself as a bully but she sure didn't put up any sort of fight.

[Trojan505]

03:27 PM on 05/08/2011

If all of the black men in prison had been born as attractive women, we would have the lowest incarceration rate in the world instead of the highest.

When we hold people to entirely different standards for commiting the same crimes based on gender, race and looks, something has to change.

A black male WOULD NOT be punished with counseling for this crime. How about 15-25 in the big house, I think that's more like it.

[LogicalMathMan]

02:04 PM on 05/08/2011

IMO, Dharun Ravi was the main culprit behind this unfortunate suicide. I cannot imagine anyone being this homophobic, callous and disrespectful of a person's sexual preference.

[Trojan505]

03:29 PM on 05/08/2011

Why do you say that? Because he's a male, and only males are capable of committing serious crimes? I find that to be sexist.

Or is it because you don't think females have the intelligence to pull off these kinds of crimes without a male coming up with the idea first? I find that to be sexist.

[LogicalMathMan]

04:47 PM on 05/08/2011

ummm...no...because I've been following this case from it's inception and because I have a Hindu friend attending the university who gave me the 'street' version of what down. Hope your ominous psyche of throwing the 'sexist' card gets some reprieve now.

[lecloche]

01:05 PM on 05/08/2011

So, Tyler gets a cyber assault and death; she gets a nose job and a pass.

[Trojan505]

03:31 PM on 05/08/2011

She's a good looking woman. What did you think was going to happen? You know how the system works:

Black man = 25 years to life for crime X.
White man = 5-10 years for crime X.
Black woman = 5-15 years for crime X, depending on looks.
White/Asian woman = For crime X, a firm promise that it won't happen again, and a reality tv show.

[ruolivert]

04:05 PM on 05/08/2011

Show me a black man in prison for 25 years for invasion of privacy and I'll agree with you

[boscobear]

10:02 AM on 05/08/2011

She gets to start her life over, but Tyler is still dead. I don't think her plan will work as she'll be remember as one who helped hound Tyler to death. How much better it would have been if her parents had raise her to respect all people. Maye then, she wouild have stopped this intrusion and Tyler would still be alive.

[paid troll]

10:25 PM on 05/07/2011

the dead boy's life doesn't seem to be worth much does it?

[3423427]

11:47 PM on 05/07/2011

The crime she is charged with is "invasion of privacy." She was not charged with murder or even manslaughter. She took a video without the victim's consent and posted it on the internet - regardless of what happened afterwards, THAT was her crime, not killing him.

[dblshell]

09:20 PM on 05/07/2011

Imagine one sets up a prank and something goes wrong and a person is killed as a result. It may have been unintentional but it's homicide just the same. If someone robs another and the person being robbed dies of a heart attack, they are similarly charged with a homicide. The person who sets the sequence of events into motion leading to death or injury is supposed to held accountable for their actions.

It may have seemed funny to them at the time. But a line was crossed here. They took this to the web. This was no longer something contained, this was something unleashed. The risk of death by suicide was not simply some existential threat, this was something that was very conceivable. I see this as a very depraved act. To invade someone's privacy is one thing but to humiliate a person in front of anyone with an internet connection demonstrates a level of sociopathy on par with that of violent criminals.

She conspired with Dharun Ravi and robbed this young man of his life. Her case should face the same level prosecution as any other manslaughter case.

Punishing a criminal is supposed to act not only as a punishment for the convicted but also as a deterrent to others contemplating such action. If she is not prosecuted, then the legal system has not provided a deterrent for another student to do exactly the same thing with the likelihood of achieving the same results.

[ruolivert]

04:32 PM on 05/08/2011

To invade someone's privacy is one thing but to humiliate a person in front of anyone with an internet connection demonstrat­es a level of sociopathy on par with that of violent criminals

Really? This was as bad as Ravi literally beating Tyler to death with his bare hands?

[dblshell]

05:28 PM on 05/08/2011

Read the statement carefully and recognize the nuance.

I didn't say this [act] was as bad.

I spoke to the lack of empathy these two felt for their victim.

[Jake Thomas]

05:37 PM on 05/07/2011

Molly Wei did not deserve a deal for this hate crime.

[Donald Andrew Ross]

04:55 PM on 05/07/2011

Our courts have their own tv show, Let's make a deal.

[3423427]

04:50 PM on 05/07/2011

I assume this is a first-time offense for Wei, so plea deal for counseling and community service in exchange for testifying against the other defendant (who it seems has more charges against him in this case) sounds fair. The charge against her is invasion of privacy, and her act of invading the victim's privacy should be evaluated independent of the victim's resulting suicide in court.

[ruolivert]

03:58 PM on 05/08/2011

But Tyler committing suicide makes me so angry and someone has to pay for it!!!! Molly clearly was trying to kill Tyler so why even waste time with a trial. She's an emotional terrorist and SEAL team 6 should be sent in to take her out in the interest of self defense because clearly the legal system is a sham and nothing short of prison or death will rehabilitate her or keep other from doing this in the future

[3423427]

05:22 PM on 05/08/2011

I assume you are joking. Just in case you're serious - Every day I read scary things about the criminal justice system in this country railroading people to jail for ridiculous trumped-up charges or things that shouldn't even be against the law. One of the few times we hear about the system working fairly, as in this case, people get outraged because they want to punish someone. Two wrongs don't make a right. Suicide is a tragedy every time it happens, and clearly we need better mental health resources for people so that we can prevent as many suicides as possible. But suicide is not murder. Pushing someone off a bridge is murder, invading their privacy with a sex video is not - it is simply invading their privacy, and the victim then decided to commit suicide. I suspect the reason that people are so upset about THIS suicide is because the victim was homosexual and the video-tapers were heterosexual. And THAT shouldn't make a difference when charging and sentencing. The most common reason for suicide is actually being dumped by a BF/GF or spouse, yet I never heard anybody suggest a murder charge for someone who divorces their husband if he then commits suicide. I think people should take a look at where the emotions are really coming from in this case, and try channel them into something positive, like advocating for better mental health services, counselling for all kids on how to respect others, etc.

[spoonbill1963]

12:32 PM on 05/07/2011

My posts! They're missing!

[ZenSufi]

12:00 PM on 05/08/2011

No Wei!

[spoonbill1963]

12:24 PM on 05/07/2011

Yo, mr censor. Freedom of speech!!!!!!!

[spoonbill1963]

12:23 PM on 05/07/2011

Molly hated gay people and thought this a funny joke. I suspect she's still laughing.

[mushimom]

05:31 PM on 05/07/2011

I agree....she was hand in hand in humiliating Tyler, shame on her and I hope she gets her karma!!