Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office

                                 25 Kirkpatrick Street, 3rd Floor, New Brunswick, New Jersey, 08901 (732) 745-3300

 

                                *News Release*         Date: September 28, 2010
 
 

 

 

 


Two Rutgers students charged with invasion of privacy

 

 

Middlesex County Prosecutor Bruce J. Kaplan and Rutgers University Police Chief Rhonda Harris announced today that two students have been charged with invasion of privacy for secretly placing a camera in another student’s dormitory room and transmitting a sexual encounter on the internet.

 

Dharun Ravi (DOB 2/28/92) of Plainsboro and Molly W. Wei (DOB 2/1/92) of Princeton have been charged with two counts each of invasion of privacy for using the camera to view and transmit a live image of an 18-year-old student in Piscataway on September 19, 2010.

 

Ravi also is charged with two additional counts of invasion of privacy for attempting to use the camera to view and transmit another encounter involving the same 18-year-old student on September 21, 2010.

 

Wei was released in her own recognizance after surrendering to Rutgers Police in New Brunswick on September 27, 2010. Ravi surrendered to Rutgers police this morning and was released on $25,000 bail.

 

An investigation began after Rutgers police learned that the camera had been placed in the 18-year-old student’s dorm room without permission. Police subsequently filed the charges against Ravi and Wei.

 

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 individual without that person’s consent, and it is a third degree crime to transmit or distribute such images. The penalty for conviction of a third degree offense can include a prison term of up to five years.

 

Anyone with information on this, or similar incidents, is asked to call the Rutgers University Police Department at (732) 932-8025, or the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office at (732) 745-3300.

 

As is the case with all criminal defendants, the charges against Ravi and Wei are merely accusations and they are presumed innocent until proven guilty.