Prosecutors reopen Cornell fraternity sexual assault investigation

Prosecutors are reopening an investigation into an alleged 2024 sexual assault at a Cornell University fraternity house after a woman filed a lawsuit saying seven fraternity members drugged and raped her over several hours.

Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten said Monday that his office had begun reviewing the case and intended to present it to a grand jury with the woman’s cooperation. He said the allegations in her civil lawsuit differ sharply from a signed statement his office reviewed in November 2024, when prosecutors decided not to pursue charges.

“I have been asked by the community to revisit the decision whether to pursue criminal charges against the seven fraternity members,” Van Houten said in a written statement. He said a grand jury could consider the woman’s testimony and any new evidence raised by the lawsuit.

The woman, identified in the lawsuit as Jane Doe, was 20 at the time of the alleged assault in October 2024. She says she went to visit a friend at the Chi Phi fraternity house while intoxicated and was pressured into snorting a substance she was told was ketamine. The lawsuit alleges that a message was then sent to a fraternity Snapchat group suggesting a woman was available for sex. More men arrived, and she says she was repeatedly raped over about seven hours. She reported the incident to Cornell police roughly three weeks later.

Van Houten said the six-page statement Cornell police provided to his office in November 2024 described her drug use and sexual conduct as voluntary, conscious and consensual. Prosecutors concluded that the facts in that statement did not support criminal charges, he said. “To be clear, the credibility of the woman, who described the facts in excruciating detail, was never in question,” he said.

The woman’s attorney, Thomas Giuffra, disputed the handling of the initial report. He told ABC News that neither prosecutors nor Cornell police followed up with his client and that she was not contacted by someone trained to interview survivors of sexual abuse. Van Houten said he contacted her attorneys after the lawsuit was filed to understand the discrepancy between the two accounts. No one was arrested in connection with the allegations, Giuffra said.

The lawsuit has also drawn scrutiny of Cornell’s disciplinary response. According to The Guardian, the woman’s lawyers said two fraternity members were expelled, while others received punishments including essays, workshops or short suspensions. Cornell rejected the suggestion that essays were the sole consequence for anyone involved.

The university said its separate Title IX investigation included a multiday hearing and resulted in sanctions including expulsions and suspensions. It said the Chi Phi chapter was closed in 2024 and remains barred from campus. Cornell said it supports giving the woman an opportunity to be heard by a criminal grand jury.

Chi Phi’s national organization called the allegations “deeply concerning” and said it condemns sexual violence. It said it could not discuss the specific allegations while litigation is pending.