US Prosecutors Reopen Case of Alleged Gang Rape at Cornell University
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US Prosecutors Reopen Case of Alleged Gang Rape at Cornell University
New York state prosecutors have announced they will reopen a criminal inquiry into the alleged rape of a woman at Cornell University in 2024.
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Watch: Why an investigation into alleged frat house gang rape is reopening
By Kayla Epstein and Nardine Saad
Published 28 September 2026
Updated 6 hours ago
New York state prosecutors say they will reopen a criminal inquiry into the alleged rape of a woman at Cornell University in 2024.
The woman, referred to as Jane Doe in court documents, filed a civil lawsuit on 16 September, alleging she was drugged and raped by multiple people at a fraternity house at the university.
"Once we determine the appropriate charges, the case will be prosecuted in the most objective and impartial means possible" through a grand jury, stated Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten on Monday.
Cornell University expressed support for the case being brought before a grand jury, while also stating that "any suggestion that the university did not impose consequential punishments for those involved is false."
Jane Doe alleges in her lawsuit that on the night of 19 October 2024, seven men from Cornell's Chi Phi fraternity chapter allegedly assaulted her in an incident involving alcohol and the drug ketamine.
According to the lawsuit, Jane Doe reported the incident to Cornell University Police on 8 November 2024. The document also includes an image purported to be from a Snapchat fraternity group chat, which suggests a member planned to have sexual contact with Jane Doe.
Van Houten explained that at the time of the assault, his office concluded that evidence from Jane Doe's statement to authorities did not meet the legal threshold to bring charges. He reached out to Jane Doe and her lawyers for additional information as he prepared to present the case to a grand jury.
In the US legal system, prosecutors convene grand juries to review evidence and testimony, ultimately deciding whether to bring criminal charges.
Van Houten's statement included a summary of Jane Doe's original statement to the Cornell University Police Department in 2024, which differed from the allegations in her lawsuit.
"Jane Doe's sworn statement in November of 2024 did not allege that she was drugged against her will or gang raped," Van Houten said. "On the contrary, Jane Doe's statement described her participation in drug use and sexual conduct as voluntary, conscious, and consensual."
Van Houten added that Jane Doe's lawyers had never reached out to him to challenge the accuracy of her original statement or request him to reconsider not bringing charges.
He acknowledged the emotional process victims of sexual assault often face: "The reality that it can take years of therapy and healing for victims of sexual assaults to fully process and understand what happened to them."
The BBC has reached out to Jane Doe's lawyer, Thomas Giuffra, for comment. A statement provided to CBS News, the BBC's US partner, on Monday, read:
"In the days following the assault, [Jane Doe] was traumatized, numb, and unable to function or accept the horror of what had happened. She was in self-preservation mode."
Giuffra added that Jane Doe never spoke to anyone other than the officer who took her initial complaint.