Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten has reopened the investigation into allegations that a former Cornell University student was sexually assaulted by multiple fraternity members in October 2024, as public attention on the case intensifies following comments from Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y.
Speaking Sunday at a town hall hosted by More Perfect University in Ithaca, Ocasio-Cortez described the case in stark terms, telling the audience that “seven men drugged and gang raped a 20-year-old woman” after luring her into a fraternity house and drugging her with ketamine. She said the men “took turns gang raping her for seven hours” and that the fraternity knew and reported it to Cornell, which she said responded by expelling two members and having the rest “write essays as their form of punishment.”
Cornell has disputed that characterization, saying its disciplinary process resulted in expulsions and suspensions and that no student faced only an essay assignment as a sole consequence. The underlying civil complaint states that some students who received temporary suspensions were given the option to submit essays as a way to mitigate their discipline, not as a substitute for it.
The allegations stem from a 101-page civil lawsuit filed last month by a former Cornell student identified as Jane Doe. The suit names Cornell, fraternity-related entities and seven individual defendants. It alleges Doe arrived at the Chi Phi fraternity house intoxicated, was pressured into taking ketamine, and was subjected to sexual acts without her consent. It also alleges a fraternity member posted a sexually explicit message about her to a fraternity Snapchat group, and that the incident ended around 5:45 a.m.
Van Houten said his office reviewed a sworn statement Doe gave in November 2024 and at the time determined the facts did not support criminal charges under New York law. He said that statement “did not allege that she was drugged against her will or gang raped,” and instead described her participation in drug use and sexual conduct as “voluntary, conscious, and consensual.”
With the civil complaint now raising new allegations, Van Houten said his office has reopened the investigation. A senior prosecutor experienced in sex-crime cases is preparing the matter for presentation to a Tompkins County grand jury, which could weigh Doe’s testimony alongside the new evidence.
Scott Kretzschmar, an attorney for one of the accused students, said his client welcomes the renewed investigation and denied the allegations, saying his client had no sexual contact with Doe. Attorneys for several other accused fraternity members have also denied wrongdoing. No criminal charges have been filed.
Cornell said it supports the reopened investigation and stood by the findings of its own months-long review, which it said led to expulsions, suspensions and the closure of the Chi Phi chapter, which was also barred from campus.
“Any suggestion that the university did not impose consequential punishments for those involved is false,” the university said, adding that “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.”
Gov. Kathy Hochul announced Thursday that she has appointed Attorney General Letitia James as special prosecutor in the case.
