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Prosecutors in central New York are reopening an investigation into sickening allegations that seven Cornell University frat brothers horrifically drugged and gang-raped a former student.
Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten told ABC News that his office is considering bringing criminal charges related to the case — after the nightmare described in a civil suit filed by the survivor sparked outrage online.
The lawsuit alleged that the victim, identified only as Jane Doe, was coerced into taking drugs, assaulted, and raped by several men — Matthew Ingalls, Johnathan Newell, Winston Lee, Gillio Lopes, Diego Sarabia, Scott Norris and Scott Kretzschmar — at the Chi Phi fraternity house at Cornell in 2024.
That night, Newell allegedly invited other fraternity brothers to join in on the abuse, sending a Snapchat message about “free p—y” to a group “Chi Phi Actives,” a screenshot included in the lawsuit shows.
Van Houten, however, told the outlet that the allegations in the civil complaint are “dramatically different” than the woman’s statement after the alleged gang rape occurred.
“It’s our intention to present the case to the Tompkins County grand jury with Jane Doe’s cooperation,” Van Houten told the outlet.
“We want to reexamine whether there’s additional evidence that we were not aware of in November of 2024, that exists now that would change our assessment of the case and would result in the grand jury finding that there was criminal conduct.”
Thomas P. Giuffra, an attorney for Jane Doe, disputed Van Houten’s description of her statement and said authorities never followed up with her, specifically someone who had specialized training in sexual abuse.
“In my experience, speaking with an abuse survivor requires delicacy, understanding and specialized training. An average University Police officer would not have these skills. It would be the role of a specially trained detective or district attorney. However, Ms. Doe was never contacted by anybody with those skills,” he told the outlet.
Van Houten did not immediately reply to The Post’s request for comment.
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