US prosecutors to reopen Cornell University gang rape inquiry

September 28, 2026 at 11:11 PM2 min

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Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten said Monday his office will reopen a criminal inquiry into the alleged 2024 gang rape of a woman at Cornell University. The woman filed a civil lawsuit on 16 September alleging she was drugged and raped by multiple people at a fraternity house. Van Houten said the case will be presented to a grand jury.

Key Facts

Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten announced Monday that his office will reopen the criminal inquiry into the alleged rape at Cornell University in 2024.
The woman, identified as Jane Doe, filed a civil lawsuit on 16 September alleging she was drugged and raped by seven men from the Chi Phi fraternity on 19 October 2024.
Van Houten said Jane Doe's November 2024 sworn statement to Cornell University Police described her participation in drug use and sexual conduct as voluntary, conscious, and consensual.
Cornell University stated that any suggestion the university did not impose consequential punishments for those involved is false.

Reopened Inquiry

Van Houten said his office will present the case to a grand jury, which will weigh evidence and testimony and vote on whether criminal charges are warranted. He said he reached out to Jane Doe and her lawyers for more information as he prepared to bring the case to a grand jury. Van Houten acknowledged that it can take years of therapy and healing for victims of sexual assault to fully process what happened to them.

Conflicting Accounts

Van Houten said Jane Doe's sworn statement in November 2024 did not allege that she was drugged against her will or gang raped. He added that Jane Doe's lawyers had never contacted him to say her original statement was inaccurate or to ask him to reconsider his decision not to bring charges. Jane Doe's lawyer, Thomas Giuffra, said in a statement that in the days following the assault she was traumatised, numb and unable to function or accept the horror of what had happened.