Ravi Found Guilty of Hate Crime

New Brunswick, NJ.

Former Rutgers University student Dharun Ravi, 20, was found guilty Friday of charges including privacy invasion and bias intimidation, a hate crime, for spying on his roommate's intimate encounter with another man in September 2010. The roommate, 18-year-old Tyler Clementi, committed suicide shortly afterward and brought the case national attention.

Prosecutors said Ravi tweeted about seeing his roommate kissing a man and tried to catch him in the act again two days later. A half-dozen students were believed to have seen the live video of the kissing.

Within days, Clementi realized he had been watched and leaped from the George Washington Bridge after posting one last status update on Facebook: "Jumping off the gw bridge, sorry."

"Freedom of expression, tolerance, the right to personal privacy and the open discussion of ideas are integral parts of any university community," Rutgers said in a statement issued after the verdict. "This sad incident should make us all pause to recognize the importance of civility and mutual respect in the way we live, work and communicate with others."

Ravi, 20, could get 10 years and be deported to his native India, even though he has long lived in the United States.