Cornell assault case reopened after transcript reveals woman’s allegation to police
A transcript obtained by CBS New York indicates that a woman who sued over an alleged sexual assault at a Cornell fraternity house told campus police she was certain she had been raped. The Tompkins County district attorney has reopened the investigation, while Cornell says outside lawyers will review its handling of the allegations.
A sexual-assault investigation involving a Cornell University fraternity has been reopened after a transcript showed the complainant told campus police she was certain she had been raped, according to CBS New York. The woman, identified as Jane Doe in a lawsuit filed on September 16, said seven men sexually assaulted her at the Chi Phi fraternity house in October 2024. She alleged that she had been pressured to consume ketamine, marijuana and alcohol before becoming incapacitated.
According to the transcript obtained by CBS, she told investigators during interviews in November 2024 that the later events were coercive and that she had been physically struck. She acknowledged drinking and using drugs and said parts of the night were unclear, but distinguished an initial sexual encounter she described as consensual from what followed when other men entered the room. Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten has said his office originally relied on a statement written by a campus police officer and signed by the woman.
He told CBS that he had not seen the interview transcript when prosecutors decided not to bring charges. Van Houten has maintained that the initial account did not allege drugging, incapacity beyond the ability to consent or forced sex, but said new information in the lawsuit prompted the reopening. Cornell has agreed to appoint outside lawyers to independently review how it handled the allegations, New York Governor Kathy Hochul announced.
The university said its own investigation resulted in some students being disciplined or expelled, although it has declined to identify them because of privacy rules. Cornell suspended the Chi Phi chapter after the allegations became public in November 2024, and the chapter remains barred from campus. The district attorney’s earlier decision and the university’s confidential disciplinary process had reduced public attention to the case before the lawsuit and newly reported transcript renewed scrutiny.
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