Rutgers Spying Case: Dharun Ravi Sentenced to 30 Days in Jail
Former Rutgers student Dharun Ravi was sentenced to 30 days in jail by a New Jersey judge on Monday, two months after being convicted on charges of bias intimidation and invasion of privacy, in an incident which led to the suicide of his roommate Tyler Clementi.
"I do not believe he hated Tyler Clementi. He had no reason to, but I do believe he acted out of colossal insensitivity," Judge Glenn Berman told the court.
"I heard this jury say, 'guilty' 288 times -- 24 questions, 12 jurors. That's the multiplication, I haven't heard you apologize once," he added.
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Ravi, who sobbed during the sentencing, is due to report to Middlesex Adult Correctional Center to begin his jail sentence on May 31 at 9 a.m.
Ravi will have a three year probation sentence and will also have to complete 300 hours of community service.
In addition Ravi must attend a counseling program that is relative to cyber bullying and alternate lifestyles and must pay $10,000 to the probation department which will go towards victims of bias crimes.
Shortly before his sentencing, Ravi's mother, Sabitha Ravi, who was also in tears, pleaded for mercy for her son.
"The media was ripping him apart with their misleading facts and wrongful statements of the prominent people, he was absolutely devastated and broken into pieces," Sabitha told the court.
Ravi's father, Ravi Pazhani, also spoke before the court insisting that his son does not hate gay people.
"No one cared about the more truthful side of the story because it was not sensational...Any printed story starts with the suicide, ends with the suicide, and Dharun is used to connect the two.... We are not a homophobic family," Pazhani said.
Clementi's mother, Jane Clementi, also spoke before the court and referred to Ravi's actions as "malicious and evil."
"What I want is justice. The court needs to show … this was not right and it was not acceptable behavior and it will not be tolerated," Jane said.
She also criticized the other dorm residents for failing to step in and defend her son.
"How could they all go along with such meanness? No one spoke up to the mastermind, the computer genius," she said before reiterating that Ravi's actions were "mean-spirited, they are evil and most important they are against the law."
The 20-year-old Indian native previously faced up to 10 years behind bars along with the prospect of being deported after a jury convicted him of a hate crime for invading Clementi's privacy; he used his webcam to spy on Clementi's private homosexual activities.
Ravi had seen Clementi being intimate with another male known only as "M.B" in court documents via a webcam in their shared dorm room. He then sent out tweets to his Twitter followers telling them what he had seen and encouraged them to webchat him to see for themselves just two days later.
Clementi, 18, jumped to his death from the George Washington Bridge on Sept. 22, after leaving a note on Facebook that read, "Jumping off the gw bridge."
That message was sent just four minutes before Ravi sent him a long text apologizing. It is unclear whether Clementi ever read the apology before jumping to his death.
