Tompkins County DA Reopens Cornell Rape Probe After 2024 Fraternity Assault Lawsuit
Updated
Updated · CBS New York · Sep 24
Tompkins County DA Reopens Cornell Rape Probe After 2024 Fraternity Assault Lawsuit
3 articles · Updated · CBS New York · Sep 24
Summary
Tompkins County prosecutors said Monday they will reopen an investigation into a former Cornell student's allegation that she was drugged and raped for hours at a Chi Phi house in October 2024.
The renewed probe follows a lawsuit against Cornell and seven fraternity members, filed by the woman identified as Jane Doe, who says two men pushed ketamine on her before multiple assaults.
Seven fraternity members were accused in Cornell's internal process, but Doe's lawyer says only two were expelled, others received lesser sanctions, and no one was arrested after the DA previously cited insufficient evidence.
Cornell said the Xi chapter of Chi Phi remains barred from campus and that it has since launched a sexual-assault task force and policy changes, while the lawsuit seeks unspecified compensatory and punitive damages.
The case now shifts from campus discipline back toward possible criminal scrutiny, reviving questions about how universities and local authorities handle sexual-assault allegations.
Why did Cornell expel some students while prosecutors first declined charges in the Chi Phi assault case now headed for grand jury review?
What new evidence in Jane Doe’s civil lawsuit could reshape the reopened criminal case over the alleged 2024 Chi Phi gang rape?
How far could accountability spread in the Cornell assault lawsuit, with a fraternity, university, sorority, house corporation, and nightclub all named?