Prosecutors in upstate New York are defending their decision not to bring charges in 2024 after an alleged “gang rape” at a Cornell University fraternity.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten described the allegations as \u201cmorally disturbing\u201d but argued that the facts he knew at the time did not support a prosecution.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIf what was said on social media about this case was true, those fraternity members would be in prison right now,\u201d Van Houten told ABC News.<\/p>\n
Van Houten argued that Jane Doe\u2019s account of the incident from 2024 suggested that she consented to the sexual activity. He said that she did not withdraw her consent, and that when she raised concerns, the fraternity members \u201cstopped and did not pursue what they were doing.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cShe clearly consented in the beginning, and there was never any indication that she changed that to the things that she participated in,\u201d he said. \u201cThere is a disconnect in the sense of how the community and how social media has understood this to have happened. If at any point Jane Doe had said, \u2018I don’t consent to this anymore,\u2019 or in those words, or in any form of communication. If there had been continued sexual activity, contact by these individuals, that would be a crime. But that’s not what was alleged in her statement.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
![\"Chi](\"https:\/\/i.abcnewsfe.com\/a\/f8815335-c499-4471-9bb8-f60f6479d183\/cornell-university-campus-gty-jt-220324_1648162378764_hpEmbed_3_3x2.jpg?w=375 "\\"Chi")
<\/picture><\/div>\n<\/div>In this undated file photo, Cornell University campus is shown.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n STOCK IMAGE\/Getty Images<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Van Houten acknowledged that his office did not examine a photo of the fraternity\u2019s Snapchat group, but he argued that the messages do not change his view of the case.\u00a0<\/p>\n He called the messages, “disgusting and vulgar and immoral.”<\/p>\n “But the question that we analyzed was: Did Jane Doe consent to what happened, and was she unable to consent?\u201d he said. \u201cI’m not clear on exactly how that was given to us, or if anyone here looked at it. That was not critical to our analysis, as I mentioned earlier. The issue was her consent, and if you take that Snapchat being vile and crude and vulgar, that did not have any relevance to the issue of whether Jane Doe consented to what was happening,\u201d \u00a0Van Houten said.<\/p>\n This photo shows the former Chi Phi fraternity house in Ithaca, where a former Cornell University student alleges that she was drugged and gang-raped in 2024.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n ABC News<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n The DA’s comments come a day after his office announced it would be reopening the 2024 case in light of Jane Doe’s civil lawsuit alleging that she was drugged, assaulted and gang raped by seven former and current members of the Chi Phi fraternity at Cornell.<\/p>\n Cornell\u2019s Chi Phi chapter was barred from campus after the alleged Oct. 19, 2024, incident, though none of the individuals allegedly involved faced criminal charges, according to the DA.\u00a0<\/p>\n An attorney for Jane Doe responded to Van Houten’s written statement on Monday, alleging his client’s claims were not investigated thoroughly.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is challenging for me to understand how a thorough criminal investigation could have been conducted when she was never spoke with anyone other than the officer who took her original complaint,\u201d Thomas P. Giuffra said.<\/p>\n Giuffra also raised concerns that prosecutors might have lost critical evidence because of the two-year delay in investigating the case.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI believe that opportunities to fully investigate these crimes were lost. We will never fully know what occurred or the identities of everyone who was involved that night,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Van Houten said his office plans to meet with Jane Doe to \u201cestablish a rapport\u201d before having her testify before the grand jury this fall. He added that he requested some of the documents from Cornell\u2019s Title IX investigation (through Jane Doe) and suggested that some of the fraternity members might testify.\u00a0<\/p>\n Van Houten argued his office is constrained by New York\u2019s laws on sexual assault and consent, which present a high bar to a potential prosecution.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe law in New York State is clear that if you are voluntarily intoxicated or under the influence of drugs \u2013 such that your judgment is impaired \u2014 that does not legally, under the penal law, constitute your inability to consent,\u201d Van Houten said. \u201cThat’s a very difficult concept, but it’s a concept that I am constrained by when I apply the law to the case.\u201d<\/p>\n The university said in a new statement on Monday that it “supports the decision of the Tompkins County District Attorney (DA) to provide an opportunity for the victim\u2019s story, in the 2024 Chi Phi fraternity Sexual Assault case, to be heard by a criminal grand jury.”<\/p>\n The entrance to Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y., Oct. 18, 2020.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Getty Images<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n “Cornell also conducted a thorough Title IX investigation, which is separate from a criminal proceeding, over the course of several months,” Monday’s statement said. “During that investigation temporary suspensions and other restrictive measures were used. After investigation, and pursuant to federal law, the matter was sent to a hearing where a panel of trained faculty and staff heard evidence over multiple days. The complainant and respondents had the opportunity to testify and present evidence. At its conclusion, the hearing panel issued a range of sanctions, which included expulsions and suspensions from Cornell. None of the individuals charged were offered the opportunity to write essays as a sole consequence of their involvement.”<\/p>\n Jane Doe\u2019s lawyers allege that the fraternity members “were afforded the opportunity to mitigate their conduct by submitting essays to Cornell.”<\/p>\n The fraternity was closed in 2024, the school said.<\/p>\n “Any suggestion that the University did not impose consequential punishments for those involved is false,” Cornell said on Monday. “A continuation of the false narrative that there were minimal consequences in this case is irresponsible, will make survivors feel less safe and supported, and will perpetuate the underreporting of sexual assault.”<\/p>\n ABC News has reached out to Chi Phi for a comment.<\/p>\n An attorney for one of the defendants denied the allegations and said the incident detailed in the complaint “did not happen.”<\/p>\n \u201cWe look forward to confronting the plaintiff in a court of law for her selfishly false claims with both the evidence and her own words.\u201d Attorney Jeremy Saland said.<\/p>\n Another defendant also denied engaging in sexual activity or drug use, though he acknowledged that he sent a message that was included in the complaint.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n![\"Cornell](\"https:\/\/i.abcnewsfe.com\/a\/8f35979d-fb00-4a8c-9e8d-43644847e558\/cornell-frat-abc-bh-280926_1790619105024_hpEmbed_2_23x13.jpg?w=375 "\\"Cornell")
<\/picture><\/div>\n<\/div>![\"Cornell](\"https:\/\/i.abcnewsfe.com\/a\/68f628c7-eb85-4396-860a-e546e5e2008c\/cornell-2-gty-er-221108_1667941205213_hpMain_3.jpg?w=375 "\\"Cornell")
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