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Roommate guilty in Rutgers webcam case

NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J., March 16 (UPI) -- A former Rutgers University student was convicted Friday in New Jersey of using a webcam to spy on his gay roommate, who subsequently killed himself.

Dharun Ravi, 20, could be sentenced to 10 years in prison for bias intimidation and invasion of privacy, CNN reported. The jury heard four weeks of evidence and deliberated for more than two days before reaching a verdict.

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Tyler Clementi, 18, of Ridgewood, N.J., jumped from the George Washington Bridge in 2010, a few weeks into his freshman year. A few days earlier, he asked for another roommate because he believed Ravi, from Plainsboro, N.J., was spying on him.

"We had a 20-year-old's life in our hands," juror Bruno Ferreira told The (Newark) Star-Ledger. "We were deciding his fate."

Ravi remains free on $25,000 bail.

Although he has lived most of his life in the United States, Ravi is an Indian citizen. He could be deported.

Ravi and a high school friend who was also at Rutgers watched from her dorm room as Clementi and another man embraced, although they did not see them having sex.

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Clementi's parents were in the courtroom throughout the trial.

"The trial was painful for us, as it would be for any parents. We wanted to be here for our son and we believe the trial is important," Clementi's father, Joe, said after the verdict. "We have come to understand that criminal law is only one way of addressing these problems."

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