By Rebecca D. O’Brien, The Record (Hackensack, N.J.) –
NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. — A judge ordered a former Rutgers student to serve a three-year probationary sentence with 30 days in jail, 300 hours of community service, counseling and a $10,000 fine after he was convicted of bias crimes for using a webcam to spy on his gay roommate’s liaison in a case that has riveted the nation.
The judge had ordered Dharun Ravi to report to Middlesex County Jail at 9 a.m. EDT May 31, but the state plans to appeal so that’s stayed.
Ravi’s roommate, Tyler Clementi, ended his life in September 2010 days after Ravi watched live-streamed images of him kissing another man, then wrote about it on Twitter. He encouraged Twitter followers to watch a planned second encounter between Clementi and the man, identified only as M.B. in court, but Clementi prevented that from occurring when he unplugged Ravi’s computer.
The judge said he did not believe that Ravi hated Clementi but said he acted with “colossal insensitivity.”
“This was cold, calculated and methodically conceived,” Berman said.
A tired-looking Ravi, appearing in a dark suit, pink shirt and tie, did not speak during the three-plus-hour proceeding but cried while his mother tearfully begged the judge for leniency.
“Dharun dreams have been shattered and he has been living in hell for the last 20 months,” Sabitha Ravi said. “As a mother I feel that Dharun has really suffered enough. My 20-year-old son has too much of a burden on his shoulders.”
Their pleas countered those of Tyler Clementis’ mother, Jane, father, Joseph, and brother James, who argued for a prison sentence because they said Ravi has never shown remorse for his actions.
James Clementi said he has been waiting a long time to see remorse exhibited by Ravi to no avail. Instead, he said he saw Ravi falling asleep and laughing with his attorneys at trial.
“He discovered Tyler was gay and dismissed him as unworthy of acceptance and kindness,” he said. “He thought he had found the perfect target in Tyler.”
Her voice breaking at some points, Jane Clementi recalled the first day she met Ravi when she helped her son unpack in his dorm room. She said Ravi, who was working on his computer, did not acknowledge Clementi and his family until Ravi’s father told him to.
“Getting to know Tyler was not what he had in mind,” she said, referring to Ravi only as the roommate. He didn’t get to know “the smart, articulate, humble, funny talented caring thoughtful generous and trustworthy person Tyler was. All he found out was that Tyler was gay.”
All three also said it was painful to have to listen to what they considered lies brought by the defense.
M.B. was not in the New Brunswick courtroom that was overflowing with family and friends of both the Clementis and Ravis as well as media outlets such as truTV, which aired the proceeding live.
But in a statement read by his attorney Richard Pompelio, M.B. said Ravi’s “cruel and childish” actions have caused him great pain and left him feeling embarrassed, empty and fearful. In calling for Ravi to serve some prison time “to reflect on the serious harm he has caused,” he said he believed Ravi exploited his relationship with Clementi in an attempt to gain popularity and attention with new college friends.
“I do not believe that he has taken responsibility for his conduct, and to this day he seems to blame me for the actions he took,” M.B. said. “His attorney made it very clear at the trial as did Mr. Ravi in his gratuitous media appearances that I was to be his scapegoat.”
Ravi was convicted of all 15 charges including bias intimidation, invasion of privacy and witness and evidence tampering, and had faced between five and 10 years in prison.
Since the March verdict, Ravi supporters mounted a campaign seeking leniency for the outgoing student whose lawyers have said has unjustifiably become the symbol of anti-gay bias.
Members of the Indian-American community held a rally at the State House in Trenton, arguing the state’s bias intimidation law should never have been applied to Ravi. They also called for him to receive probation and sent a petition to President Barack Obama and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie seeking a pardon for Ravi.
Berman said the petition to Obama has no legal significance because the president can only pardon crimes committed against the U.S., not the state.
Clementi’s family and M.B. supported an unspecified prison term sought by prosecutors. One gay advocacy organization, Garden State Equality, took the position that Ravi deserved to go to prison, although not for the maximum10 years.
Clementi’s suicide sparked a national debate about cyber bullying and teenage suicide that led to the passage of a state anti-bullying law. It also prompted his parents to establish the Tyler Clementi Foundation in honor of their son.
