Internet sex-tape student, 18, leaps to his death from bridge

Tyler Clementi, 18, a student at New Jersey's Rutgers University,

jumped from the George Washington Bridge last week, said his family's lawyer Paul Mainardi.

Police recovered a body in the Hudson River on Wednesday and

authorities were trying to determine if it was Mr Clementi.

ABC News and the Star-Ledger of Newark reported Mr Clementi left a note on his Facebook page on September 22 that read: "Jumping off the gw bridge sorry."

Two classmates have been charged with illegally taping Mr Clementi having sex and broadcasting the images via an internet chat programme.

The chairman of gay rights group Garden State Equality, Steven Goldstein, said his group considered Mr Clementi's death a hate crime.

"We are heartbroken over the tragic loss of a young man who, by all accounts, was brilliant, talented and kind," Mr Goldstein said.

"And we are sickened that anyone in our society, such as the students allegedly responsible for making the surreptitious video, might consider destroying others' lives as a sport."

On the Rutgers campus in New Brunswick, there was dismay over Mr Clementi's death and the circumstances that led to it.

"As a dorm we're really angry," said student Jordan Gochman, 19. "The notion that the video of Tyler doing what he was doing can be considered a spectacle is just heinous.

"It's intolerant, it's upsetting, it makes it seem that being gay is something that is wrong and can be considered laughable."

One of the defendants, Dharun Ravi, was Mr Clementi's roommate, Mr Mainardi told the Star-Ledger. The other defendant is Molly Wei. Ravi and Wei could face up to five years in prison if convicted.

A lawyer for Ravi did not immediately return a message seeking comment.

The Middlesex County prosecutor's office charged the pair, both 18, with two counts each of invasion of privacy, claiming they used the webcam to view and transmit a live image of Mr Clementi on September 19.

Ravi was also charged with two more counts of invasion of privacy alleging he tried to transmit another encounter of Mr Clementi on September 21.

A Twitter account belonging to a Ravi was recently deleted but in a cached version retained through Google he sent a message on September 19: "Roommate asked for the room till midnight. I went into molly's room and turned on my webcam. I saw him making out with a dude. Yay."

Two days later, he wrote on Twitter: "Anyone with iChat, I dare you to video chat me between the hours of 9.30 and 12. Yes it's happening again."