Alleged Cornell Gang Rape
D.A. Cracks Case Back Open
Published
The Cornell frat brothers accused of drugging and gang-raping a student aren’t in the clear yet … prosecutors are reopening the case.
Tompkins County D.A. Matthew Van Houten tells ABC News he plans to put the 2024 case before a grand jury with the alleged victim’s cooperation.
The apparent reason for the U-turn? Her explosive civil lawsuit. Van Houten says the lawsuit tells a “dramatically different” story than the one she originally gave police.
He claims she never initially said she was unknowingly drugged, forced into sexual activity or incapacitated.
Her attorney says that’s not the whole story … arguing she was never interviewed by a specially trained detective or prosecutor after reporting the alleged attack.
Then there’s the Snapchat chat … Van Houten says prosecutors never saw the messages, but her legal team insists police had them in 2024 and simply failed to follow up.
As TMZ previously reported, the woman claims seven Chi Phi members gave her ketamine and sexually assaulted her inside the frat house. She alleges one member invited others upstairs by messaging the fraternity’s Snapchat group that there was “free p***y.”
Cornell says it investigated the allegations, but federal privacy law prevents the school from revealing any punishment. Chi Phi remains barred from campus.
Attorneys for two of the accused men deny wrongdoing. No one was charged the first time around … but prosecutors are now giving the case another shot.
