Ex-Rutgers student guilty in webcam suicide case

NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. (AP) — A former Rutgers University student convicted today in the webcam spying episode that ended in his gay roommate's suicide could be headed off to prison in a case experts say stands as a tragic lesson for young people about casual cruelties and unintended consequences in the Internet age.

A jury found Dharun Ravi guilty of all 15 counts against him, deciding that Ravi not only invaded the privacy of Tyler Clementi and another man but also committed bias intimidation — a hate crime — by targeting Clementi because he was gay.

Ravi, 20, could get up to 10 years in prison by some estimates and could be deported to his native India even though he has lived legally in the U.S. since he was a little boy.

The case stirred a national conversation about anti-gay bullying and teen suicide. It also illustrated the dangers of technology in the hands of people who have grown up with the likes of Twitter and Facebook.