New York prosecutors said they are reopening an investigation into an alleged rape case from October 2024 involving Cornell University students, following a civil lawsuit filed this month by the alleged victim.
The woman, identified as Jane Doe in court filings, filed a lawsuit in the Supreme Court of the State of New York on September 16. In the complaint, she claims multiple men drugged and brutally raped her for more than four hours at the Chi Phi fraternity house on the Ithaca campus.
Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten announced in a nine-page statement that his office is undertaking efforts to reexamine the case. Van Houten said that once his office determines appropriate charges, the case will be presented to a grand jury. He assigned a senior prosecutor with experience in sex crimes to begin preparations for the grand jury presentation.
According to lawyers for the student, only two members of the Chi Phi fraternity were expelled following the October 2024 incident. None of the seven men named as perpetrators were arrested, the lawyers said. The other five fraternity members faced lesser disciplinary measures, including being required to write essays.
The Chi Phi fraternity has been banned from Cornell's campus. Cornell University issued a statement indicating it supports the investigation and has defended its handling of the initial report to campus police.