Cyber Sex Suicide

The Tragic Story of Tyler Clementi, Rutgers'Webcam Voyeyrism

New details about the victim and alleged perpetrators in Rutgers'deadly cyber-voyeurism case have emerged: Tyler Clementi, age 18, is believed to have jumped to his death after his roommate broadcasted video of Tyler "making out with a dude" online.

As we reported this morning, Dharun Ravitweeted last week about secretly recording—then publicly broadcasting—video of his college roommate "making out with a dude." Now The Newark Star-Ledger reports that Clementi is presumed dead after his car, cell phone, and computer were discovered near the George Washington Bridge. Tyler's wallet lay abandoned on a walkway. He is believed to have thrown himself into the Hudson River and died.

Tyler Clementi grew up in Ridgewood, NJ and was a freshman on Rutgers' Piscataway campus. Dharun Ravi, also an 18-year-old freshman, is from Plainsboro and attended West Windsor-Plainsboro High School North. Ravi's classmate in high school and college, Molly Wei, has been charged with invasion of privacy alongside him for her role in the webcam affair: Ravi tweeted that he watched his livestream of Tyler from a computer in Molly's room. Both Dharun and Molly face up to five years in jail.

Tyler's Facebook profile is still up. It offers little information other than a single Favorite Quotation: "What do you get when you kiss a guy? You get enough germs to catch pneumonia..." —Promises Promises [Star-Ledger, NYDN]