US prosecutor reopens group sexual assault case at Cornell University

District Attorney Matthew Van Houten of Tompkins County, New York, announced on Monday that his office is reopening a criminal investigation into an alleged sexual assault at Cornell University’s Chi Phi fraternity house nearly two years earlier.

The decision followed a civil lawsuit filed earlier that month by an unnamed woman, which detailed graphic claims of a multi-hour assault and sparked widespread public outrage and community pressure.

According to the lawsuit, the then-20-year-old undergraduate was plied with alcohol and drugs—including what fraternity members described as ketamine—on the night of October 19, 2024, leaving her unable to consent.

She alleged she was sexually assaulted by seven Chi Phi members over several hours at the fraternity house, with a Snapchat group chat used to encourage others to participate.

She reported the incident to Cornell University Police several weeks later, but no criminal charges were filed at the time.

Van Houten explained that the original November 2024 sworn statement given to police “did not allege that she was drugged against her will or gang raped.”

Instead, he said, “Jane Doe’s statement described her participation in drug use and sexual conduct as voluntary, conscious, and consensual.”

He stressed that his office could not have based its earlier decision on allegations that appeared only in a civil lawsuit filed almost two years later.

“Seeking justice sometimes requires us to reconsider or reopen cases when we are provided with additional evidence,” Van Houten said, adding that he had been asked by the community to revisit the matter.

A senior prosecutor experienced in sex-crime cases involving college students has been assigned to prepare the matter for presentation to a Tompkins County grand jury.

Cornell University conducted its own Title IX investigation, which included temporary suspensions and a multi-day hearing before a panel of trained faculty and staff.

The university said the panel issued “a range of sanctions, which included expulsions and suspensions.”

The Chi Phi chapter was closed in 2024 and remains barred from campus.
Vice President for University Relations Kyle Kimball stated that “none of the individuals charged were offered the opportunity to write essays as a sole consequence of their involvement” and that “any suggestion that the university did not impose consequential punishments for those involved is false.”

Cornell supports the district attorney’s decision to allow the case to go before a grand jury.

The women’s attorney, Thomas Giuffra, has said only two of the seven accused were expelled, with the others receiving lesser sanctions such as suspensions, workshops, or essay assignments, and that none were arrested.

“Not one of these guys was arrested. Not one. That I can tell you for a fact,” Giuffra said.

He has disputed aspects of the district attorney’s characterization of the original police statement, noting that his client was traumatized after the alleged assault and that the legal complaint is more detailed because he met with her multiple times.

The seven men named in the lawsuit have denied the allegations through counsel.

Van Houten emphasized that accused individuals must be prosecuted based on evidence rather than public opinion, while acknowledging that “the process of healing from trauma is personal and different for every human.”

The grand jury process will allow consideration of women’s testimony and any additional evidence raised by the civil complaint.

No charges have yet been announced.