On December 17, 2010, AOL News gave an update on the events that have since occurred after a Rutgers University 18-year-old freshman committed suicide by jumping off the George Washington Bridge. The freshman apparently killed himself after his roommate broadcast live images of man having a sexual encounter with another man on the Internet.
The man’s roommate, age 18, of Plainsboro, NJ and another classmate, age 18, of Princeton, NJ were charged with two counts each of invasion of privacy for setting up a camera in a dorm room about a week earlier, and using it to view and transmit a live sex scene. The roommate discussed the sex scene on Twitter. Right after the suicide, the roommate and classmate surrendered to Rutgers police and was released on $25,000 bail and own recognizance, respectively.
Under New Jersey’s invasion-of-privacy laws, it is a fourth degree crime to collect or view images depicting nudity or sexual contact involving another individual without that person’s consent. It is a third degree crime to transmit or distribute the images. If the students are convicted on a third degree offense they each face up to five years in prison under state law. Conviction on a fourth-degree crime could lead to probation or up to 18 months in prison.
After being charged with invasion of privacy, both the roommate and classmate left Rutgers. If they stayed, they would have faced disciplinary action. The New York Daily News reported that the roommate transferred to another school and that the classmate was taking a break from college. One of their attorneys told The Star-Ledger: “Nothing was transmitted beyond one computer and what was seen was only viewed for a matter of seconds.” The other attorney added: “The statute defining sexual contact refers to nudity and private parts, and, to my knowledge, nothing like that was seen. I’m also unaware of any evidence that any video was recorded, reproduced, or disseminated in any way.”
Criminal situations that affect young people are not only devastating in the lost of life for the victims involved, but also the lost of bright futures for the accused when their crimes stem from emotions, impulse, and poor judgment.
When a young person gets charged with an Internet crime, bullying, or stalking, the defendant needs to engage an experienced New Jersey attorney to investigate the circumstances to make sure each element of the law can be proven, and to negotiate reduced sentencing or penalties based on the fact that the young people with no criminal history, or an otherwise nonviolent background, so used to discussing life in public on social networks, or making thoughts known without self-censorship in texts and blogs, may go farther with education on cyber stalking, bullying, and proper online communications rather than jail time or penalties s/he cannot afford to pay.
