NEW YORK, Oct. 3 (Nationwide Times) — Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten reopened a criminal investigation into allegations that seven men associated with Cornell University’s Chi Phi fraternity sexually assaulted a student in 2024. On Sept. 28, 2026, he announced plans to present the case to a grand jury to consider possible charges.
The announcement followed a civil lawsuit by the former Cornell undergraduate, identified as Jane Doe. Her complaint accuses the men of assaulting her at the fraternity house in Ithaca, New York, over the night of Oct. 19–20, 2024. Cornell is also named as a defendant.
The allegations are not findings of guilt. Prosecutors initially brought no criminal charges, and Van Houten’s September announcement concerned a renewed investigation and proposed grand-jury review, not an indictment.
The case involves three separate processes: Doe’s civil lawsuit, a criminal investigation and Cornell’s student disciplinary proceedings. The timeline also includes a dispute over how prosecutors characterized Doe’s original police statement.
What does the lawsuit allege?
Doe’s complaint says she arrived at the Chi Phi house intoxicated after drinking off campus and went there to visit a friend. It alleges that two fraternity members pressured her to take a substance they described as ketamine, and that she was also pressured to use marijuana.
The complaint alleges that seven men assaulted her over several hours while she was unable to consent. Doe describes the encounter in the lawsuit as being “gang raped.” BBC reported that she was 20 at the time.
The complaint includes an image of messages from a Snapchat group called “Chi Phi Actives.” It alleges that a member used the chat to encourage others to join in. The lawsuit places one message at about 1:42 a.m. and says the assaults continued until about 5:45 a.m.
These details form part of Doe’s allegations against the defendants. Scott Kretzschmar, an attorney for one defendant, denied the allegations against his client, The Hill reported.
November 2024: Police report and initial response
According to Doe’s complaint, she reported the incident to Cornell police on Nov. 8, 2024. She gave a sworn police statement in mid-November. CBS News reported that police interviewed her over two days during that period.
Cornell publicly announced an investigation and suspensions involving the chapter and students that November. In its statement, the university described “serious and deeply disturbing allegations of drug abuse and sexual violence at the Chi Phi fraternity house.”
The district attorney’s office initially did not pursue criminal charges. Van Houten later explained that decision by pointing to his interpretation of Doe’s sworn police statement.
“Jane Doe’s sworn statement in November of 2024 did not allege that she was drugged against her will or gang raped,” he said.
Van Houten said Doe had “described her drug use and sexual conduct as voluntary, conscious and consensual.” He called the allegations in the later civil complaint “dramatically different” from the earlier account.
What did Doe’s police statement say?
A copy of the November statement obtained by ABC News contains descriptions of incapacity, refusals and coercion.
In that statement, Doe described feeling incapacitated and declining some proposed sexual acts. She also said parts of the encounter “felt like coercion.”
Those descriptions differ from Van Houten’s characterization of her account as consensual. The disagreement concerns both what Doe told police at the outset and how the prosecutor interpreted it when deciding whether to pursue charges.
2025: Cornell’s disciplinary investigation
Cornell said its Office of Civil Rights and Office of Student Conduct and Community Standards investigated the allegations under the university’s Title IX policies, which address sex discrimination and sexual misconduct.
Transcripts from the university’s 2025 investigation document approximately 50 interviews with 32 witnesses, according to records obtained by CBS News New York and examined by CBS News.
Cornell said the proceedings resulted in “a range of sanctions, which included expulsions and suspensions from Cornell.” The university also barred the Chi Phi chapter from campus.
These were university disciplinary actions, separate from a prosecutor’s decision about criminal charges. Cornell’s account identifies the types of sanctions imposed without assigning them to individual accused men.
September 2026: Civil lawsuit and renewed criminal inquiry
Doe filed her civil complaint in September 2026. The lawsuit brought her allegations against the seven men, Cornell and other defendants into a civil court proceeding. A civil complaint sets out a plaintiff’s accusations; it is not a criminal charge.
On Sept. 21, Cornell issued a statement describing its investigations and confirming that the Chi Phi chapter remained excluded from campus.
A week later, Van Houten announced that his office had reopened the criminal investigation and intended to put the case involving the seven accused men before a grand jury. That body would consider whether criminal charges should be brought.
The district attorney’s office said it had been “asked by the community to revisit the decision whether to pursue criminal charges against the seven fraternity members.” Van Houten said those requests prompted reconsideration.
Cornell supported the proposed grand-jury review. The university said it “supports the decision of the Tompkins County District Attorney (DA) to provide an opportunity for the victim’s story, in the 2024 Chi Phi fraternity Sexual Assault case, to be heard by a criminal grand jury.”
State oversight and calls for changes
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul appointed state Attorney General Letitia James to oversee the reopened investigation. BBC reported the appointment on Sept. 30, 2026.
The allegations and the handling of the case also prompted demands for changes from Cornell students, BBC reported on Oct. 2. Cornell said it had agreed to an independent investigation.
