The High School North graduate at the center of the invasion of privacy case at Rutgers University has reportedly pleaded not guilty to a set of 15 charges.
Dharun Ravi, 19, of Plainsboro, entered a “not guilty” plea at his five-minute arraignment hearing in New Brunswick in front of Superior Court Judge Glenn Berman on May 23. Berman set the next court date for Monday, July 25.
Ravi faces invasion of privacy charges for allegedly using a webcam at Rutgers to broadcast his roommate’s sexual encounter with another man. The roommate, Tyler Clementi, later committed suicide.
In April, Ravi was indicted on two counts of invasion of privacy and two counts of attempted invasion of privacy, but the grand jury also found that he “acted with bias” because his actions against Clementi “were intended to intimidate” Clementi and his partner “because of their sexual orientation,” said the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office.
A second degree bias offense carries a prison exposure of 5 to 10 years, the press release stated.
Ravi, and his friend and fellow North graduate Molly Wei, 19, of West Windsor, were charged in September with allegedly using the web camera in Ravi’s dorm room to transmit images of his roommate’s sexual encounter live on the Internet.
Wei, however, appeared in Superior Court earlier this month and was accepted into a pretrial program after the approval of both the judge and the prosecutor’s office, stated various news reports.
Wei reportedly pleaded not guilty and was accepted into the program, which would require her to perform 300 hours of community service and undergo counseling for cyberbullying and dealing with the alternative lifestyles of others.
If she completes the three-year pre-trial program without getting into any more legal trouble, the charges against her will be dropped, reports stated.
