A WW-P High School North graduate is looking to have charges dismissed that she invaded the privacy of her Rutgers University classmate when she allegedly viewed a webcast of his sexual encounter with another man.
Molly Wei, 19, of West Windsor, has reportedly applied to enter a pretrial program that would have to be approved by a judge, who could potentially drop the charges and impose conditions, including staying out of legal trouble, doing community service, going back to school, or maintaining a job. The news has been reported in various media outlets, including the Associated Press and the Home News Tribune.
According to reports, the time period for those conditions can last anywhere between one and three years, after which the charges would be dropped.
The news came after a grand jury indicted fellow North graduate and Rutgers classmate, Dharun Ravi, 18, of Plainsboro, who allegedly used the webcam to broadcast his roommate’s encounter over the Internet. The roommate, Tyler Clementi, later committed suicide.
While Ravi faces a slew of charges, Wei faces two counts of invasion of privacy, which carries a potential prison sentence of up to five years, although it would be unlikely that she would receive such a long sentence as a first-time offender.
In reports, the prosecutor has said there are no plans to present Wei’s case to a grand jury. She could be accepted to the pretrial intervention program if she obtains a judge’s approval, and the Middlesex County prosecutor’s office and officials within the pretrial program agree, reports said.
Meanwhile, Ravi was indicted by a grand jury last month on two counts of invasion of privacy and two counts of attempted invasion of privacy, as well as bias charges because his actions against Clementi “were intended to intimidate” Clementi and his partner “because of their sexual orientation,” said a press release from the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office.
“The panel further charged that T.C. [Tyler Clementi] reasonably believed he was a target because of his sexual orientation,” the press release stated. “Under state law, bias is charged a degree higher than the underlying crime, in this case, invasion of privacy. Accordingly, the defendant has also been charged with two counts of second degree bias and two counts of third degree bias.”
A second degree bias offense carries a prison exposure of five to 10 years, the press release stated. A court date is scheduled for Monday, May 23.
Ravi and Wei were charged in September with allegedly using the web camera in Ravi’s dorm room to transmit images of his roommate’s sexual encounter with another man on the Piscataway campus live on the Internet.
Under New Jersey’s invasion of privacy statutes, it is a fourth degree crime to collect or view images depicting nudity or sexual contact involving another person without that person’s consent. It is a third degree crime to transmit or distribute such images. The penalty for conviction of a third degree offense can include up to five years in prison. But once Clementi committed suicide, talk turned to upgrading the charges, possibly to hate crimes. Evidence was presented to the grand jury on April 13. The indictment was handed up on April 20.
Not only is Ravi facing the invasion of privacy and bias charges, but the grand jury added additional charges. “Based on events and actions determined during the on-going investigation, the grand jury concluded that Ravi also attempted to mislead investigators and witnesses in various ways,” the press release stated. “As a result, the grand jury charged Ravi with three counts of tampering with evidence, three counts of hindering his own apprehension, and one count of witness tampering.”
Specifically, the grand jury found that Ravi deleted a post on his Twitter account that alerted others to view Clementi’s second encounter with his partner and replaced it with a false post on Twitter intended to mislead the investigation.
“Additionally, it was charged that Ravi tried to convince witnesses not to testify against him and provided investigators with information intended to mislead them in their investigation,” the press release stated.
As for Wei, authorities determined that charges that were previously filed against her would not be presented to the grand jury at this time, the press release stated. She was charged with two counts of invasion of privacy from the incident. “The case against her remains active,” said the press release.
