Princeton University Student Accused Of Taking Sexually Explicit Photos Of Fellow Student
PRINCETON, N.J. (AP) — A Princeton University student has been charged with invasion of privacy after being accused of taking sexually explicit photos of a fellow male student in a dorm room at the Ivy League school after he had fallen asleep, police said.
Richard Charles Tuckwell, 20, surrendered to police late Friday and was released without bail, said Princeton police Capt. Nicholas Sutter. Tuckwell is an Australian citizen who lives on the island of Jersey, in the Channel Islands, which are British crown dependencies.
Tuckwell and the other student, 19, an acquaintance, met during Lawn Party weekend — two days of outdoor concerts at Princeton — on Sept. 16, then went to a dormitory, where the younger student fell asleep after drinking alcohol, Sutter said.
Tuckwell is then accused of using his cellphone camera to take sexually explicit photos of the other student without his consent.
The younger student awoke at one point and saw Tuckwell photographing him, police said.
Police said there is no indication the photos were distributed to anyone else by electronic or other means.
Police said they believed Tuckwell is being represented by attorney Arnold Mellk of Princeton. He was in a meeting Monday and not immediately available for comment, his law office said.
Police said an investigation is continuing into an allegation of sexual assault.
The invasion of privacy charge carries a penalty of up to three to five years in prison, police said.
Princeton University officials did not have an immediate comment on the arrest.
The mix of electronic media and sex crimes was a central issue in two other New Jersey campus crimes in 2010. Both those incidents were at Rutgers University.
In one, student Minjin Oh pleaded guilty to making unwanted sexual contact with his sleeping roommate and capturing video of what happened on his cellphone.
In the other, student Dharun Ravi was convicted earlier this year of invasion of privacy and bias intimidation for using a webcam to see his roommate kissing another man. The case became widely known after the roommate, Tyler Clementi, killed himself days later.
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