Cornell Fraternity Gang Rape Case Reopened After Civil Lawsuit Sparks Outrage
A Tompkins County DA is reopening a 2024 Cornell fraternity assault case after a civil lawsuit alleged seven members gang raped a student. Criminal charges are now being considered.
Cornell DA to Present Fraternity Assault Case to Grand Jury
Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten announced this week that his office is reopening a criminal investigation into an alleged gang rape at a Cornell University fraternity house, as abcnews.com reports. The move comes less than two weeks after a former Cornell student filed a civil lawsuit claiming she was drugged, assaulted, and gang raped by seven current and former members of the Chi Phi fraternity on October 19, 2024.
"It's our intention to present the case to the Tompkins County grand jury with Jane Doe's cooperation," Van Houten told ABC News. "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."
Why No Charges Were Filed in 2024
Van Houten said his office declined to bring criminal charges following the initial incident because the woman's sworn statement to Cornell University Police did not allege that she had been drugged without her knowledge or that she had been forced to engage in sexual activity without consent.
"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 in a public statement.
The DA added that he found Jane Doe credible and that neither she nor her attorneys had contacted his office to request reconsideration of the case or to suggest her sworn statement was inaccurate.
Cornell's Chi Phi chapter was barred from campus following the alleged incident, but none of the individuals allegedly involved faced criminal charges at that time.
Victim's Attorney Disputes DA's Account
Thomas P. Giuffra, Jane Doe's attorney, disputed Van Houten's characterization of his client's initial statement and criticized authorities for failing to follow up with her using appropriately trained personnel.
"In my experience, speaking with an abuse survivor requires delicacy, understanding and specialized training. An average University Police officer would not have these skills. It would be the role of a specially trained detective or district attorney. However, Ms. Doe was never contacted by anybody with those skills," Giuffra said.
Van Houten acknowledged in an interview with ABC News that his office relied on Cornell University Police's investigation and did not independently investigate the allegations — a practice he described as consistent with the approach taken by many upstate New York counties.
Contents of the Initial Statement
Van Houten released details from Jane Doe's six-page typewritten statement to Cornell police, citing the need to address what he called "incomplete news and social media coverage" that had generated community outrage.
"While I generally refrain from commenting publicly on criminal investigations, the community outrage stemming from the incomplete news and social media coverage requires that I provide an answer to why the investigation resulted in a lack of criminal charges," Van Houten said.
According to a summary of that statement, Jane Doe told police she agreed to a sexual encounter with two Chi Phi fraternity brothers, describing her motivation in part as "drunken curiousness." The document states that additional men entered the room over the course of the evening. Jane Doe told police she had difficulty remembering parts of what happened and described one fraternity member saying something "very rude and mean" to her before apologizing and attempting to kiss her, from whom she quickly pulled away.
The summary further states that some of the men asked to ingest drugs off her body. The document then describes two fraternity brothers entering the room and ending the situation.
"While the behavior of certain Chi Phi fraternity members was without question disgusting and morally reprehensible, the foundation of the criminal justice system is that criminal prosecutions must be based upon evidence and not emotion," Van Houten said.
Snapchat Messages Not Previously Shared With Prosecutors
A central point of dispute concerns a screenshot of a Snapchat group chat included in the civil complaint, in which Jane Doe alleges fraternity members discussed the incident. Van Houten said that screenshot was never provided to his office during the 2024 investigation.
Giuffra said the messages constitute a "critical piece of evidence" and maintained they were shared with authorities in 2024. The discrepancy over what evidence was submitted and reviewed remains unresolved as the DA's office prepares to bring the matter before a grand jury.
The civil lawsuit, filed earlier this month, alleges Cornell University failed to adequately protect the student following the incident. The allegations in that complaint, Van Houten noted, are "dramatically different" from the account Jane Doe gave police in November 2024 — a gap that has become a focal point both for prosecutors reassessing the case and for critics questioning how the initial investigation was handled.
Source: NPR National