Ex-Rutgers Student Accepts Deal in Suicide Case

Molly Wei gets community service over Tyler Clementi death
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted May 6, 2011 5:44 PM CDT
Molly Wei: Former Rutgers Student Accepts Plea Deal in Tyler Clementi Suicide Case
Molly Wei talks with her attorney Rubin Sinins in court Friday.   (AP Photo/Frank H. Conlon, Pool)

Molly Wei admitted her role in the cyberbullying case that led fellow Rutgers student Tyler Clementi to kill himself and agreed to cooperate with authorities. She will likely avoid jail as a result, reports the Philadelphia Inquirer. Wei must complete 300 hours of community service, attend counseling on cyberbullying, and testify against the student accused of setting up the hidden camera that snooped on Clementi and another man, reports CNN. After that, the invasion-of-privacy charges lodged against her for watching the video with Dharun Ravi will be dropped.

Wei's attorneys have argued that she played only a minor role in the case and that Ravi is the real culprit. He faces 15 charges on everything from invasion of privacy to tampering with evidence. Clementi's parents seem satisfied with Wei's penalty. "Based on the information supplied to us, we understand that Ms. Wei's actions, although unlawful, were substantially different in their nature and their extent than the actions of Tyler's former roommate," they said in a statement. Click to read about the resolution of the Phoebe Prince case, another high-profile suicide linked to bullying. (More Molly Wei stories.)

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