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TRENTON � A bill sponsored by Senator Shirley K. Turner (D-Mercer) that would upgrade the criminal penalties for the crime of invasion of privacy and eliminate the presumption of non-imprisonment was cleared out of the Senate Judiciary Committee today. The legislation was drafted in response to the suicide of Rutgers student Tyler Clementi after his roommate promoted and then streamed online video images of him allegedly engaged in a sexual encounter.

�The invasion of someone�s privacy is more than just a joke or harmless fun. As we saw at Rutgers it has serious consequences and can cause irreparable harm to those who fall victim of it. Individuals who invade someone�s privacy need to be held accountable,� said Turner.

TRENTON – Senator Shirley K. Turner (D-Mercer) yesterday introduced legislation stiffening penalties for privacy invasion when the offense involves video taping and distributing images of someone in an intimate setting where that person would reasonably expect not to be observed.

The proposal comes after a Rutgers University student was allegedly recorded by his roommate in a sexual encounter with another man, and the video streamed live on the Internet. The victim, 18-year-old Tyler Clementi, later leapt to his death from the George Washington Bridge, according to published reports.

“Whether this was a cruel joke or outright harassment of this student, what happened on Rutgers University’s campus was a crime,” said Senator Turner. “Video taping someone without their knowledge, especially in an intimate setting, and distributing the images over the Internet is serious. We need to send a clear message that we’re not going to take this lightly and that there will be severe consequences for invading someone’s privacy in this manner.”