Dharun Ravi Rejects Plea Deal That Would Have Probation In Tyler Clementi Invasion Of Privacy Case

A former Rutgers University student who is accused of using a webcam to spy on his roommate Tyler Clementi last year, has refused an offer by the Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office Friday morning that offered him probation in return for admitting to bias and invading Clementi's privacy. The Star-Ledger reports that Dharun Ravi, 19, quietly, but firmly, told Superior Court Judge Glenn Berman in New Brunswick that he will go to trial rather than accept the charges that he was biased against gay people when he remotely turned on a webcam in his Piscataway dorm room and allegedly watched Clementi and another man hugging and kissing in September 2010. For the first time since the case began, about 20 members of the Indian community in Middlesex and Mercer counties, attended the hearing."We are here to support the Ravi family," said Anil Kappa, a friend of the family. Authorities say Ravi later used his Twitter account to tell friends he saw the freshman "making out with a dude." He is also accused of trying and failing to set up the webcam for others to watch Clementi and the man in a second intimate encounter. Clementi, of Ridgewood, learned of the first webcam incident and apparently unplugged Ravi's computer the second time, according to court papers filed in the case. Days later, Clementi committed suicide by leaping off of the George Washington Bridge, and his death started a nationwide dialogue about cyber-bullying and gay teen suicide. The case against Ravi is set for a trial to begin on February 21. Ravi is charged with invasion of privacy, bias intimidation and other counts, with Clementi and another man, identified only as M.B., as the victims. In the rejected plea offer, the prosecutor's office said Ravi would plead guilty to one count of bias intimidation and several counts of invasion of privacy. In return, the state would recommend that Ravi be given a probationary sentence with the conditions that he perform 600 hours of community service, receive counselling associated with cyber-bullying and alternative lifestyles and agree to dispose of any and all information concerning M.B. The state would also ask the judge to treat the bias charge, a second-degree offense with a presumption of about 7 years of state prison time, as a third-degree offense.