New York prosecutors reopen investigation into Cornell gang rape claims

A young woman's harrowing description of an on-campus gang rape prompted renewed discussion of how universities handle assault accusations.(CN) — After a shocking lawsuit sparked questions about consequences for on-campus sexual assault, prosecutors in Ithaca, New York, announced Monday that they are reopening a criminal investigation into seven Cornell University students accused of drugging and raping a classmate while at their fraternity.Filing suit under the name Jane Doe, the young woman described being gang raped by members of the Chi Phi fraternity in October 2024 in a Sept. 16 lawsuit that drew widespread questions about why the men weren’t charged criminally.Prosecutors described receiving numerous calls and emails in the aftermath, some asking for answers and others threatening staff.Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten said Monday that he felt compelled to answer publicly, explaining in a nine-page statement that Jane Doe’s credibility “was never in question,” but in her initial sworn statement from November 2024, she “did not allege that she was drugged against her will or gang raped.”“On the contrary, Jane Doe’s statement described her participation in drug use and sexual conduct as voluntary, conscious, and consensual. My office obviously did not and could not have based our November 2024 decision on the allegations in a civil lawsuit that would not be filed until nearly two years later,” Van Houten said.Van Houten added, “Seeking justice sometimes requires us to reconsider or reopen cases when we are provided with additional evidence.”The district attorney’s office will bring the case before a grand jury, he said, and upon indictment it “will prosecute the charges zealously and to the fullest extent of the law.”In her Manhattan state court lawsuit, Jane Doe describes multiple men drugging and raping her for more than four hours at a fraternity at the Ivy League school. She says two fraternity members propositioned her to have a threesome while she was too drunk to consent, then pressured her into doing ketamine, a drug she had never done before. Another member then entered the room and began having sex with her without her consent, she says.The complaint includes a screenshot of a Snapchat group message called “Chi Phi Activities” in which a member writes there was “free pussy” upstairs, referring to the incapacitated plaintiff, after which multiple members entered the room she was in and raped her.Cornell University conducted a Title IX investigation suspended the seven students accused of rape and the Chi Phi fraternity chapter itself, Jane Doe’s lawsuit says, after she reported the assault. Only two of the accused rapists were expelled.The response prompted wide renewed discussion of how universities handle assault accusations. It got the attention of U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who condemned them in an appearance at the elite school Sunday.“After looking into the matter they expelled two of them and made the rest write essays as their form of punishment,” Ocasio-Cortez said. “The culture of rape, sexual assault and pedophilia is protected in elite institutions across the United States and including Cornell University in this instance. It has got to stop.”The university refuted the idea that the students did not face proper consequences.“None of the individuals charged were offered the opportunity to write essays as a sole consequence of their involvement,” Kyle Kimball, the university’s vice president for university relations, said in a Monday statement responding to the reopened criminal investigation.After a hearing before a panel of trained faculty and staff, the panel “issued a range of sanctions, which included expulsions and suspensions from Cornell,” he said. The fraternity chapter remains barred from campus.“Any suggestion that the university did not impose consequential punishments for those involved is false. A continuation of the false narrative that there were minimal consequences in this case is irresponsible, will make survivors feel less safe and supported, and will perpetuate the underreporting of sexual assault,” Kimball said.Attorney Thomas Giuffra of Rheingold Giuffra Ruffo Plotkin & Hellman LLP represents Jane Doe in her civil suit. On Monday, he said that after his client’s initial contact with Cornell Police, she wasn’t contacted by Tompkins County District Attorney investigators.The initial report is “not materially different” from what’s in the lawsuit, Giuffra said.“The legal complaint is much more detailed and lengthy because I took the time to meet with Ms. Doe multiple times and learn the specific facts of what had occurred,” the attorney said. “It is challenging for me to understand how a thorough criminal investigation could have been conducted when she was never spoke with anyone other than the officer who took her original complaint.”While Giuffra said his client’s trauma being discussed publicly has been difficult, but “she has been gratified by the outpouring of support that she has received from the public.”“This support shows the best side of human nature, while her case shows the worst. It has been a great help to her during this difficult time,” he said.Subscribe to our free newslettersOur weekly newsletter Closing Arguments offers the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world, while the monthly Under the Lights dishes the legal dirt from Hollywood, sports, Big Tech and the arts.Additional Reads