Dharun Ravi Pleads Guilty In Tyler Clementi Webcam Case

RIDGEWOOD, N.J. — Dharun Ravi pleaded guilty Thursday to charges relating to the 2010 webcam case that led to Rutgers student Tyler Clementi's suicide, ending a six-year long legal battle.

Ravi and Tyler Clementi, a Ridgewood native, were roommates in September 2010 when Ravi used a webcam to spy on Clementi having intimate encounters with another man. Ravi was convicted in 2012 on all 15 counts, including invasion of privacy, bias crimes, hindering his apprehension, and witness tampering.

Ravi pled guilty to attempted invasion of privacy charges. All charges except the bias crimes ones were dropped following a decision by the Appellate Division of Superior Court.

Ravi was convicted in 2015, but had his sentence overturned in September and was given a new trial. Had the case been retried, the law would have prohibited the court from give a harsher sentence than the first time.

“Reaching the plea agreement was a reasonable way to resolve the case in view of the appellate court decision, which dismissed a series of criminal bias charges that had been levelled against the defendant by a grand jury in Middlesex County,” Prosecutor Andrew Carey said. "Our sympathies remain with the victim’s family, which continues to work to protect our at-risk youth.”

Following his original conviction, Ravi served 20 days at the Middlesex County Adult Corrections Center, was placed on three years probation, ordered to serve 300 hours of community service, fined $10,000 and ordered to participate in cyberbullying counselling. All the terms of that sentence have already been fulfilled.

Clementi's parents, Joe and Jane, created the Tyler Clementi Foundation, which works to address bullying and issues gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people face.

Joe and Jane Clementi issued the following statement Thursday afternoon:

"We have learned a lot through this process of pleas, convictions, time served, and appeals. We learned at the trial that what happened to Tyler was a lot worse than what was initially related to us. We have learned that our legislators need to make constitutionally valid and clear laws. And we have learned that witnesses or bystanders need to become upstanders for those in our society like Tyler, who cannot stand up for themselves.

"We call on all young people and parents to think about their behavior and not be bystanders to bullying, harassment or humiliation. Interrupt it, report it and reach out to victims to offer support. If this had happened in Tyler's case our lives might be very different today."

Reporting by Katie Kausch and Daniel Hubbard

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Dharun Ravi — Patch file photo