Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten announced the reopening of a criminal investigation into alleged gang rape at a Cornell University fraternity in 2024. This decision comes after a civil lawsuit filed earlier this month by a former Cornell student, referred to as Jane Doe, sparked renewed public interest and presented allegations "dramatically different" from her initial statement to police.
The civil lawsuit claims Jane Doe was drugged, assaulted, and gang-raped by seven members of the Chi Phi fraternity. While Cornell's Chi Phi chapter was barred from campus after the alleged incident, no criminal charges were brought in 2024. Van Houten previously stated that the woman's initial account to authorities did not allege she was drugged or that she lacked consent, and she admitted to voluntarily taking drugs and alcohol. However, the civil suit includes a group chat where fraternity members allegedly discussed the incident, a piece of evidence Van Houten claims was not provided to his office in 2024.
Van Houten's office now intends to present the case to a Tompkins County grand jury with Jane Doe's cooperation, seeking to determine if new evidence, not available in 2024, warrants criminal charges. Cornell University has stated that it takes allegations of sexual violence seriously and conducted its own Title IX investigation, which resulted in sanctions including expulsions and suspensions for some individuals involved. The university also confirmed that the Xi chapter of Chi Phi remains barred from campus. An attorney for one of the defendants, Scott Kretzschmar, denied the allegations, stating his client "never sexually assaulted or even touched the plaintiff in any way."
