Prosecutors in New York said on Monday that they have reopened an investigation into the alleged gang-rape of a student at Cornell University after an outcry over "leniency" shown to seven fraternity members named as the perpetrators. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing The Guardian.
According to lawyers for the student, who filed a civil lawsuit against the university and her alleged attackers earlier in September, only two members of the Chi Phi fraternity were expelled after the October 2024 incident, in which she said she was drugged and repeatedly raped over the course of seven hours.
None of the seven were arrested, they said, and the others were made to write essays, attend workshops or serve short suspensions.
On Monday, Matthew Van Houten, the Tompkins county district attorney, said his office was looking again at the case, after the woman, who was 20 at the time of the alleged assault, presented allegations in her lawsuit that were "dramatically different" from the statement she gave to police two years ago.
Later on Monday, Van Houten released a fuller statement defending his office's past decision to not seek charges.
"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," he said.
He went on to say: "Jane Doe's sworn statement in November of 2024 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.
"Furthermore, I have never been contacted by Jane Doe's attorneys. Not to inform me the original statement was inaccurate and not to ask me to reconsider our decision. Rather, I reached out to Jane Doe's attorneys after the lawsuit was filed to understand the discrepancy between the original statement and the lawsuit's allegations and the proper path forward in light of the lawsuit's allegations," Van Houten continued.
The district attorney said that he has asked a senior female prosecutor to prepare a case for a grand jury, adding that he "recogniz[es] that the process of healing from trauma is personal and different for every human".
"Seeking justice sometimes requires us to reconsider or reopen cases when we are provided with additional evidence," he said.
Van Houten also released a summary of a "six-page, single-spaced, typewritten statement" that Doe provided to the Cornell University police department in November 2024.
According to the summary, Doe told police that she agreed to engage in sexual activity with two Chi Phi members, "due to how attracted [she] was to [Male Number 1] on top of [her] drunken curiousness".
"When she learned that Male Number 2 would be the third participant, Jane Doe 'remembered being excited because [she] thought that [Male Number 1 and Male Number 2] wanting to have a threesome meant that they were gay'," the summary said.
The summary added that another man entered the room and shook Doe's hand.
"When [Jane Doe] made contact with [Male Number 3's] hand, [Male Number 3] pulled [Jane Doe] into him and [they] began making out. While [Male Number 3] was kissing [her], [Male Number 2] began groping [her]. Eventually, '[Male Number 2, Male Number 3, and Jane Doe] would end up on the bed next to where [Male Number 1] was sleeping and [they] began to have a threesome,'" according to the summary, which said that four men later entered the room.
"Jane Doe had difficulty remembering parts of what happened next. She remembered '[Male Number 7] said something very rude and mean to [her].' Male Number 7 apologized and 'grabbed [her] face and started kissing [her]'. Jane Doe 'quickly backed away to stop [Male Number 7] from kissing [her]'," the summary said.
It went on to say that some of the Chi Phi members started to compliment Doe's looks and asked if they could take drugs off her body.
"Jane Doe responded, 'Sure.' While the men were doing drugs off of her body, '[Male Number 3] and [another male] entered the room and said something like, 'Ok we're shutting down whatever the f*** this is,'" the summary added.
Outrage over the treatment of the alleged offenders has grown since the lawsuit was made public. The woman, who quit the university afterwards, said she went to visit a friend at the Chi Phi frat house in an already intoxicated state.
"When plaintiff arrived at Xi chapter's fraternity house, plaintiff was visibly intoxicated as she had consumed about 10 standard drinks within the past 3 hours," Doe's lawsuit said.
According to the lawsuit, one of the defendants "pulled [her] off to a quieter area and propositioned her with having a threesome with her and another one of his fraternity brothers. In her drunken state, plaintiff was incapable of consenting to this proposition."
The lawsuit then alleges that two men "pressured plaintiff into snorting the alleged Ketamine with them, a drug she had never done before. During this time, [the two men] also plied plaintiff with marijuana and 'Jamaican Liquor' believed to be some type of high-proof rum."
While they sexually assaulted her, she alleges, a message was sent to a frat house Snapchat group.