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. 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. 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 – and was made to snort a drug they told her was ketamine. While they sexually assaulted her, she alleges, a message was sent to a frat house Snapchat group called Chi Phi Actives that stated there was “free pussy upstairs”.
At least five other frat members showed up and joined in, she said, and her ordeal lasted until about 5.45am. She made a report to campus police about three weeks later. Cornell’s vice-president for university relations, Kyle Kimball, issued a statement on 21 September calling the allegations “deeply disturbing”.
Kimball’s statement claimed the Ivy League institution’s offices of civil rights, student conduct and community standards carried out a number of inquiries at the time. We will respond in detail through the legal process.” An attorney for the student told CBS News that none of the alleged perpetrators faced legal consequences for their conduct, and nobody in the frat house that saw the message did anything to stop the rapes from taking place. That I can tell you for a fact.
I’ve never seen anything like it.” Giuffra also countered the statement of Van Houten, the Tompkins district attorney, which lays out what he said the alleged victim stated in her original police complaint from November 2024. 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.” Giuffra told ABC News that neither the district attorney or Cornell police ever followed up with his client.
It would be the role of a specially trained detective or district attorney. However, Ms Doe was never contacted by anybody with those skills.” Named defendants in the lawsuit are Matthew Ingalls, Johnathan Newell, Winston Lee, Gillio Lopes, Diego Sarabia, Scott Norris and Scott Kretzschmar. Two of those defendants denied the allegations in statements to ABC News.
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