New York prosecutors reopen investigation after student files lawsuit over alleged gang rape at Cornell University
By Hanna Park, Danya Gainor, CNN
(CNN) — Prosecutors in New York are reopening an investigation into an alleged gang rape of a former Cornell University student after a civil lawsuit was filed earlier this month by the woman’s lawyer, claiming the school did not do enough to protect the accuser.
Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten told ABC his office plans to present the case to a grand jury after the original investigation into the alleged 2024 assault resulted in no criminal charges. Van Houten said the allegations in the civil complaint were “dramatically different” than the woman’s statement to police two years ago, at the time of the alleged incident.
The disturbing allegations about the assault of the former student, identified as Jane Doe, have already sparked widespread criticism and again put a spotlight on how universities handle student claims of sexual assault.
“It’s our intention to present the case to the Tompkins County grand jury with Jane Doe’s cooperation,” Van Houten told ABC. “We want to reexamine whether there’s additional evidence that we were not aware of in November of 2024, that exists now that would change our assessment of the case and would result in the grand jury finding that there was criminal conduct.”
Van Houten told CNN his office would release a public statement on the investigation Monday morning.
In the civil complaint, filed September 16, Doe alleges that seven members of Cornell’s Chi Phi fraternity drugged and sexually assaulted her at the frat house in October 2024 and invited other fraternity members in a group chat to join the assault, sharing the photo of a Snapchat group message as part of the suit.
None of the fraternity members have been criminally charged. The complaint alleges temporary suspensions were issued for the seven named students, who it said “were afforded the opportunity to mitigate their conduct by submitting essays” to the university – a claim Cornell denied.
CNN has reached out to the Cornell University Police Department, the Chi Phi fraternity and others named in the lawsuit.
Van Houten told ABC his office didn’t bring criminal charges at the time because Doe did not allege she was drugged or assaulted. He also said the photo of the group chat included in the complaint was never provided to his office.
“She never says that she was drugged without her knowledge. She admits to taking drugs and alcohol voluntarily and with knowledge. She does not allege that she was forced to engage in any acts. She does not say that she was physically helpless or unconscious or incapacitated at any point during the time at the fraternity house,” Van Houten said of Doe’s 2024 statement to investigators.
Van Houten acknowledged to ABC his office relied on the investigation conducted by the Cornell University Police Department and did not “independently investigate” the allegations, a practice he said was in line with many upstate New York counties.
Doe’s attorney, Thomas P. Giuffra, told CNN in a statement the police report was “not materially different” from what was contained in the complaint and criticized the district attorney’s office for not doing more at the time.
“It is challenging for me to understand how a thorough criminal investigation could have been conducted when she never spoke with anyone other than the officer who took her original complaint,” Giuffra said, adding he believed “opportunities to fully investigate these crimes were lost.”
“Other than her initial contact with Cornell Police, she was not contacted by investigators from the Tompkins County District Attorney’s Office or any investigators trained in interviewing rape survivors,” Giuffra told CNN.
“While I do not care for the attempt to blame Ms. Doe for these failures, we appreciate and support any efforts to prosecute the parties,” Guiffra said. “If the District Attorney’s office is now considering prosecution, I believe that it is a step in the right direction, albeit a late one.”
Cornell said in a statement Monday it “supports the decision of the Tompkins County District Attorney (DA) to provide an opportunity for the victim’s story … to be heard by a criminal grand jury.”
In a statement on September 21, Cornell declined to confirm the individual disciplinary outcomes, citing federal student privacy law, and said violations of university policy “could lead to sanctions up to and including suspension or expulsion,” adding, “We will respond in detail through the legal process.”
Doe’s attorney said that Cornell ultimately expelled two of the seven accused students, while the others received lesser punishment, including suspensions, workshops or written assignments.
Cornell countered that claim in its Monday statement, saying there was a range of sanctions for the accused students, including suspensions and expulsions, but “none of the individuals charged were offered the opportunity to write essays as a sole consequence of their involvement.”
The sanctions came after it conducted a formal Title IX investigation, separate from the criminal proceeding, and a panel of trained faculty and staff heard evidence over multiple days, the school said.
“Any suggestion that the University did not impose consequential punishments for those involved is false,” the statement read. “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.”
The school also said it barred the Xi chapter of the Chi Phi fraternity from its campus and launched a sexual assault task force shortly after the incident, adding it has implemented several of the group’s recommendations.
An attorney for one of the accused fraternity brothers denied any wrongdoing by his client. CNN is working to determine if the other fraternity brothers have representation.
“Even the District Attorney’s Office, led by a chief prosecutor with the duty to pursue justice and uphold the rule of law without bias or favor, filed no charges against [him] because what she alleged did not happen,” the attorney, Jeremy Saland, said in a statement to CNN. “At bottom, [he] never sexually assaulted or even touched the plaintiff in any way.”
Jane Doe, in a statement to CNN, described to CNN how she went to Cornell “with great hope and promise for a good education,” but suffered in a way that has caused emotional and psychological distress as a result of the alleged assault.
“What I experienced from those who raped me in the fraternity was the worst experience of my life. I was brutalized and it injured me physically but perhaps more importantly, emotionally,” Doe said. “I want to recover from this trauma but it is extremely difficult. It affects every aspect of my life. It will haunt me and be part of me the rest of my life.”
What the lawsuit says
The 101-page complaint brings claims including negligence, breach of contract, sexual assault and battery, and violations of New York’s Human Rights Law.
It says Doe was 20 years old and had been drinking at her sorority house and a bar before she arrived at the Chi Phi house to visit a friend, who was one of the fraternity members on the night of October 19, 2024.
According to the suit, the alleged victim Jane Doe had already consumed about 10 standard drinks within the past 3 hours when she arrived at the fraternity house.
The complaint alleges the friend and another fraternity member gave her more alcohol and pressured her into snorting a substance they described as ketamine, and that she was then sexually assaulted while “incapable of consent.”
At roughly 1:42 a.m., one of the men allegedly sent a message to the fraternity’s Snapchat group chat – titled “Chi Phi Actives” – stating there was “free p—y” upstairs.
By doing this, the suit alleges that one of the accused “encouraged other XI CHAPTER members to join in on the gang rape of plaintiff.”
A photo of a portion of the chat is included in the filing. Multiple fraternity members then entered the room, where the complaint alleges they pressured Doe into taking more ketamine and subjected her to an hourslong assault that continued until approximately 5:45 a.m.
Doe reported the incident to the Cornell University Police Department on November 8, 2024, the complaint says. Cornell suspended the Chi Phi chapter and the seven accused students, “who were afforded the opportunity to mitigate their conduct by submitting essays to Cornell,” according to the lawsuit, which Cornell denied.
The complaint faults Cornell for failing to properly discipline after the assault, “all the while sheltering them from speaking to law enforcement, and silencing victims.”
Cornell’s “conduct was so outrageous, shocking, despicable, and contemptible that it exceeds the reasonable bounds of decency as measured by what the average member of the community would tolerate and demonstrates an utter disregard for the consequences that would follow,” the lawsuit says.
The complaint is seeking a jury trial to determine monetary damages.
Widespread outrage
The lawsuit – and along with the lack of criminal charges and accusations of inadequate discipline – has drawn a wave of outrage.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a Democrat from New York City, condemned what she described as a “culture of rape” at elite universities and institutions during a Sunday town hall in Ithaca, where Cornell is located.
“Those men posted in a group chat,” Ocasio-Cortez said, referencing allegations in the lawsuit. “That means it was normal to them, that means it was acceptable to them. This is a culture, this is norms, these are practices, and what we must do is understand that we cannot protect those spaces anymore,” Ocasio-Cortez said.
Actor Florence Pugh also posted an impassioned response in a lengthy Instagram post Sunday, writing, “I’m no longer tired – I’m enraged by schools protecting boys, in fear of their futures being wrecked.”
“What about the life that those girls then have to endure, with the knowledge that his reputation is more precious than her truth?” she added.
Pugh also addressed Doe directly, calling her “so unbelievably powerful” and “so strong willed.” “Know that women everywhere are here to hold you and help you on your healing journey,” she wrote.
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CNN’s Sammy Lindell and Gloria Pazmino contributed to this report.
