Former Rutgers University student Molly
Wei made her first-ever appearance in court on Friday in connection
with Tyler Clementi's suicide, CBS
News New York reported.
Clementi is the 18-year-old gay Rutgers
student who jumped off the George Washington Bridge to his death
after learning that his roommate, Dharun Ravi, had secretly streamed
live video of him having sex with another man onto the Internet.
Ravi and Wei have been charged with
invading Clementi's privacy. Ravi
faces 14 additional charges, including bias intimidation, and witness
and evidence tampering.
Ravi and Wei are accused of watching
Clementi's sexual encounter in Wei's dorm room.
Wei has been admitted into a pre-trial
intervention program that could allow the 19-year-old to avoid jail
time and a criminal record. She is expected to cooperate with
prosecutors, complete 300 hours of community service and get a job
over the next three years in exchange for having the charges dropped.
“Molly Wei was unfortunately brought
into this,” said Erik Khan, Wei's attorney. “Whether there's
some good that comes out of this for the country in terms of
bullying, anti-homophobia, that's fine. But Molly Wei should not be
the poster child for this.”
Clementi's parents said in a statement
that they did not object to the agreement.
“Actions have consequences,” said
Joe Clementi. “We wish that Miss Wei becomes a person who will
make better decisions, help people and show kindness to people she
comes in contact with.”