Outrage has been building nationwide over the handling of an alleged sexual assault at Cornell University two years ago, prompting prosecutors to announce they are taking a new look at the case, while defending their past decision not to seek criminal charges.Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten said in a statement Monday that his office is considering whether to bring criminal charges related to a 2024 incident at the Chi Phi fraternity house.In a civil lawsuit filed earlier this month, a former Cornell student identified as Jane Doe alleges she was sexually assaulted, raped and plied with drugs by seven Chi Phi fraternity brothers at the on-campus fraternity house the evening of Oct.
19 and into Oct.20, 2024.
The fraternity chapter was subsequently barred from campus, but no one was criminally charged.According to the lawsuit, some of the students were able to “mitigate their conduct” by writing essays to the university.
Van Houten said in a statement that he was reopening the investigation into the alleged sexual assault and asked a senior prosecutor to prepare a case for a grand jury.That grand jury will be able to consider Jane Doe’s testimony, as well as any new evidence from the civil complaint.“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 in the statement.Van Houten defended his office’s decision not to seek criminal charges at the time, saying that in a November 2024 statement Doe did not allege that she was gang-raped or drugged against her will.
“On the contrary, Jane Doe’s statement described her participation in drug use and sexual conduct as voluntary, conscious, and consensual,” he wrote, adding that Doe’s attorneys never reached out to him before filing the civil lawsuit two years later.Thom...