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Posts indicate alleged sex-snooping victim e-mailed staff for help before suicide

Tyler?Clementi
This June 2010 photo provided by the Ridgewood Patch shows Tyler Clementi, left, hugging a fellow student during his 2010 graduation from Ridgewood High School in Ridgewood, N.J. Sam Fran Scavuzzo / AP
/ Source: msnbc.com staff and news service reports

The college freshman who jumped to his death after two other teens allegedly streamed online video of his sexual encounter with another man had turned to university staff to help deal with the situation before his suicide, according to messages he is believed to have posted online.

After 18-year-old Rutgers University student Tyler Clementi became aware of the alleged broadcast from posts on roommate Dharun Ravi's social networking sites, he told a resident adviser (RA) about the problem, according to posts attributed to him in forums on the gay website JustUsBoys.com.

On Sept. 22, user cit2mo, widely reported as being Clementi, wrote that his RA "seemed to take it seriously ... he asked me to email him a written paragraph about what exactly happened ... I emailed it to him, and to two people above him...."

There was no indication as to who the two people above the resident adviser were, and whether they received an e-mail from Clementi.

It was later that same day that Clementi jumped from the George Washington Bridge between New Jersey and New York. The last known Internet post from him was a brief message on his Facebook page: "Jumping off the gw bridge sorry." Police recovered Clementi's body from the water on Wednesday.

Rutgers spokesman Greg Trevor told msnbc.com the university would not discuss specifics of the case.

University President Richard McCormick said in a statement that a candlelight vigil will be held Sunday evening on campus for Clementi. He also said he would meet with student leaders of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community.

"This tragedy and the events surrounding it have raised critical questions about the climate of our campuses. Students, parents, and alumni have expressed deep concern that our university, which prides itself on its rich diversity, is not fully welcoming and accepting of all students," McCormick said.

"They have expressed to me and to other Rutgers faculty and administrators the urgent need for every student to be able to live and study without fear of intimidation, discrimination, or threats to their privacy."

Clementi's family issued a statement Friday through lawyer Paul Mainardi asking for privacy "in this painful time."

"We understand that our family's personal tragedy presents important legal issues for the country as well as for us. Regardless of legal outcomes, our hope is that our family's personal tragedy will serve as a call for compassion, empathy and human dignity," the statement said.

The family said funeral services will be private.

While it's not possible to be certain that Clementi wrote the posts in the discussion forum, they mirror the same timeline as the alleged filming and reflect the anguish someone in that situation might have felt. Forbes.com cited a post from Ravi's now-defunct Twitter account that indicated he learned of his roommate's sexuality from other JustUsBoys posts by that user, which he linked to from the tweet.

The website . Under cit2mo's name on the JustUsBoys forum now reads the line, "In Loving Memory."

The user started the discussion thread on Sept. 21 by explaining how he found out about the alleged video streaming from checking his roommate's Twitter feed. The writer then proposed ideas as to how he should handle the situation and asked for advice on what to do next.

He expressed anger with the roommate and noted that he seemed to have had an audience during the encounter.

'He was spying on me'
"And so I feel like it was 'look at what a fag my roommate is,'" the cit2mo post said. "Other people have commented on his profile with things like 'how did you manage to go back in there? 'are you ok?'" The user also pointed out that people seemed to focus on his encounter, instead of the roommate's spying.

"...i mean come on...he was SPYING ON ME....do they see nothing wrong with this?" the post said.

At that point, the cit2mo message indicated that he had decided to fill out a form requesting a room change.

In the early morning hours of Sept. 22, cit2mo described the situation the night before, saying he texted his roommate to asking for privacy in advance. He said that when he returned to his room, he noticed the roommate's webcam had been turned to face his bed and said the roommate again promoted the "free show." It was at that point that cit2mo "ran to the nearest RA and set this thing in motion."

That day, Ravi posted to his 148 Twitter followers, "Anyone with iChat, I dare you to video chat me between the hours of 9:30 and 12. Yes it’s happening again," .

The JustUsBoys user said he simply continued as planned, but unplugged his roommate's computer first. His next post indicated that he'd also recorded images of the roommate's Twitter feed.

In previous posts on the same thread, cit2mo described his research into his school's privacy policy, and noted it said that recording someone in a place where they would expect privacy could result in expulsion.

"The only things is...there are too many 'could's ....the fact that he didn't ACTUALLY record me (to my knowledge) and the fact that the school really prolly won't do much of anything...."

He said he'd mention the incident to his RA before writing, "and yah, revenge never ends well for me, as much as I would love to pour pink paint all over his stuff.....that would just let him win....."

Charges against roommate, friend Ravi, of Plainsboro, and Molly W. Wei, of Princeton, both 18, have been charged with two counts each of invasion of privacy. Ravi also is charged with two counts of invasion of privacy for attempting to use the camera to view and transmit another encounter involving the student two days later.

Middlesex County Prosecutor Bruce J. Kaplan said Thursday that his department's investigation was continuing and that more charges were possible under New Jersey's hate-crimes law.

"We will be making every effort to assess whether bias played a role in the incident, and, if so, we will bring appropriate charges," he said in a statement.

Motive is at the core of the possible new charges. A person can be found guilty of a bias crime in New Jersey if the jury agrees that he or she committed a crime because of a belief that the victim is a member of a protected group, such as homosexuals or a racial minority.

Ravi's lawyer has not responded to requests for comment. Messages left with an attorney believed to be representing Wei were not returned.

High school friends of the suspects, both 2010 graduates of West Windsor-Plainsboro High, say the suspects have no issue with gay people.

"He had gay friends," Derek Yan, 16, told The Associated Press of Ravi. Yan said that he chatted online with his former schoolmate about college life in recent weeks. "He said he was lucky to have a good roommate," Yan said. "He said his roommate was cool."

'I would never expect this'Numerous websites have popped up in defense of the suspects, with some proclaiming their innocence or calling their alleged actions a prank. Other sites, however, were dedicated to criticizing the suspects or calling for stiffer charges, including manslaughter.

The comments on the pages are emotional and sometimes vitriolic. Some postings call the suspects "sickos" and "cold-blooded killers" while others contain homophobic and racist content (both suspects are of Asian heritage), even thanking the suspects for their possible role in a gay man's death.

Luanne Peterpaul, who has worked as a prosecutor and criminal defense lawyer and serves as the vice chairwoman of the gay rights group Garden State Equality, said bias crimes can be hard to prove.

She said prosecutors should look at evidence including the Twitter messages Ravi may have used to alert friends to the alleged video. She said that there might be clues as to his intent.

Peterpaul said she believes that filming a man and a woman engaged in sex in a dorm room would not have had the same results.

"It's quite possible that maybe they would have videotaped an opposite-sex couple," she said. "But would there have been such a following?"