A body found in the Hudson River has been identified as Tyler Clementi, the Rutgers University freshman who committed suicide after his roommate allegedly secretly filmed him having sex. Tyler, 18, who jumped off the George Washington Bridge on Sept. 22, died from drowning and blunt force trauma, according to the New York Medical Examiner's office. The body was recovered Wednesday.
"Tyler was a fine young man, and a distinguished musician," says the Clementi family's attorney, Paul Mainardi. "The family is heartbroken beyond words. They respectfully request that they be given time to grieve their great loss and that their privacy at this painful time be respected by all."
Authorities say Clementi's roommate, Dharun Ravi, 18, set up a camera in their room and remotely turned it on without Clementi's knowledge. He also tried to stream it live on the Internet.
"Roommate asked for the room till midnight. I went into molly’s room and turned on my webcam. I saw him making out with a dude. Yay," Ravi wrote on his Twitter page Sept. 19.
Three days later, Clementi committed suicide. "Jumping off the gw bridge sorry," he wrote on his Facebook Page, New Jersey's The Star-Ledger reports.
Ravi and another student, Molly Wei, 18, have been charged with two counts each of invasion of privacy after police learned the camera had been placed in the room without Clementi's permission, Middlesex County prosecutor Bruce J. Kaplan says.
If convicted, they face up to five years in prison for the charges.
"If the charges are true, these actions gravely violate the university's standards of decency and humanity," Rutgers President Richard McCormick said in a statement. "Our university community feels the pain of his loss, and I know there is anger and outrage about these events."
Reporting by NICOLE WEISENSEE EGAN
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