Cornell rape accuser says university police gave false impression of ongoing criminal probe
The accuser's lawyer says Cornell police told her a criminal investigation was continuing after the district attorney had already closed the case, prompting renewed scrutiny of the university's handling of the allegation.
A woman who alleges she was gang-raped at a Cornell University fraternity party says she was told by the campus police that a criminal investigation was still under way, even though the Tompkins County district attorney had closed the case within days of her initial police interviews. Lawyer Thomas Giuffra told reporters the woman, identified in court documents as Jane Doe, was "misled" about the status of the probe and believed investigators were still gathering evidence.
District Attorney Matthew Van Houten said his office reviewed a six-page summary of the woman's account and concluded that no crime had occurred, describing the alleged sexual activity as "voluntary, conscious and consensional." The summary, Giuffra said, omitted key statements in which the woman asserted she had been raped and described physical violence and a fraternity member’s vulgar invitation to assault her.
After the prosecutor announced the decision not to pursue charges, the woman filed a civil lawsuit against seven Chi Phi fraternity members, Cornell University and others. In response, Cornell’s trustees appointed former Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates to review the school’s Title IX and campus-police procedures.
Student activists have staged sit-ins and rallies demanding reforms to the university’s disciplinary process and accountability for those involved. Governor Kathy Hochul later removed the case from Van Houten’s office and appointed Attorney General Letitia James as a special prosecutor. Giuffra praised the appointment but expressed concern over the district attorney’s initial plan to move the case to a grand jury within two weeks, calling the timeline insufficient for a thorough review.
One defendant in the lawsuit has petitioned a court to have Attorney General James removed, alleging bias after she posted about the case on social media. Cornell has closed the Chi Phi chapter, expelled several students and suspended others as part of its internal Title IX investigation.