Details emerge in case of former Cornell student alleging gang rape by fraternity members

New details are emerging in the case of a former Cornell University student who claims she was drugged and gang raped for several hours at a fraternity house in October 2024.

The woman – identified only as Jane Doe, who was 20 at the time of the alleged incident – ​​recently filed a civil action against seven members of the Chi Phi fraternity and the university, claiming they failed to protect her and prevent the alleged assault. Although Cornell conducted an internal investigation, no criminal charges were filed against the accused at the time.

The Tompkins County Prosecutor’s Office confirmed Monday that this would be the case. reopening of criminal investigation under pressure from the community and will present the evidence to a grand jury. The prosecutor said the woman’s November 2024 affidavit was different from what she alleges in the civil lawsuit, while her lawyer says investigators never followed up on her allegations.

Here’s what we know about the case so far:

Claims against Cornell

In the lawsuit against the university and members of the fraternity at the time, the woman alleges she visited a friend at Cornell’s Chi Phi fraternity house while she was already drunk, and alleges that two fraternity members pressured her into taking what they said was ketamine. She alleges they then sexually assaulted her.

According to the complaint, on the night in question around 1:42 a.m., a fraternity member sent a crude message to a Chi Phi Snapchat group chat suggesting that a woman upstairs was available for sex. The woman claims other men entered the room and the assaults continued until 5:45 a.m.

The complaint says the woman filed a report with university police three weeks after the alleged rapes.

“Once she was emotionally ready, she went to the university police and courageously shared what had happened to her. She went to the police because she believed she was the victim of a crime,” her attorney, Thomas Giuffra, said in a statement to CBS News.

“Other than her initial contact with Cornell police, she was not contacted by investigators from the Tompkins County Prosecutor’s Office or any investigators trained to interview rape survivors,” Giuffra said.

Cornell conducted an internal review of the allegations after filing the report with campus police. Giuffra told CBS News New York that two of the fraternity members were expelled, while five others received lesser sanctions, including suspensions, workshops and essay writing.

“None of these guys have been arrested. Not one. That I can tell you with certainty,” Giuffra told CBS News New York, adding that the woman dropped out of school after the alleged assault.

Cornell disputed the notion that some of the defendants only needed to write essays to be punished.

“None of the individuals charged were given the opportunity to write essays as a result of their involvement,” the university said.

The lawsuit accuses Cornell and the other defendants of breach of contract, negligence and violations of state law. She is seeking monetary damages, including compensatory and punitive damages. The lawsuit does not specify how much she is seeking.

Cornell response and internal investigation

Cornell said it conducted a thorough Title IX investigation into the former student’s allegations over several months.

“After investigation and in compliance with federal law, the matter was referred to a hearing during which a panel of qualified faculty and staff heard testimony over several days,” the Cornell statement said. “The complainant and respondents were given the opportunity to testify and present evidence.”

The university said the hearing panel imposed a series of sanctions against the accused students, including expulsions and suspensions from Cornell.

The fraternity chapter was closed in 2024 and remains off campus.

“Any suggestion that the university did not impose meaningful sanctions on those involved is false,” Cornell said. “Continuing the false narrative that there were minimal consequences in this case is irresponsible, will make survivors feel less safe and less supported, and will perpetuate the underreporting of sexual assault.”

The Ithaca Police Department told CBS New York that the alleged incident was never reported to them.

The criminal investigation is reopened

The Tompkins County Prosecutor’s Office confirmed Sept. 28 that it would reopen the criminal investigation after being “asked by the community to review the decision whether to pursue criminal charges” against the then-fraternity members.

District Attorney Matthew Van Houten said the allegations made in the civil lawsuit were different from the sworn statement Jane Doe made in November 2024. He said her 2024 statement “did not allege that she was drugged against her will or gang raped” by multiple men.

“To the contrary, Jane Doe’s statement describes her participation in drug use and sexual relations as voluntary, knowing and consensual,” Van Houten said. “My office obviously did not and could not have based our November 2024 decision on allegations in a civil lawsuit that would not be filed until nearly two years later.”

Giuffra, the woman’s attorney, disputes that she spoke with DA investigators after making her report to Cornell University Police.

“Interviewing a survivor is a difficult process that requires a lot of time and experience. It is never easy for a survivor to share the details of an assault with a stranger. You have to develop trust and spend a lot of time learning the facts and engaging with the survivor,” he said. “It is difficult for me to understand how a thorough criminal investigation could have been conducted when she never spoke to anyone other than the officer who took her initial complaint.”

Van Houten said he was never contacted by his attorneys to inform him that the original statement was inaccurate or to ask him to reconsider his office’s decision not to pursue criminal charges.

“Instead, I contacted Jane Doe’s attorneys after the lawsuit was filed to understand the discrepancy between the original statement and the lawsuit’s allegations and the path forward in light of the lawsuit’s allegations,” he said.

Van Houten said he has begun the process of reopening the investigation, including speaking to Jane Doe and her attorneys.

“Once we have determined the appropriate charges, the case will be pursued through the most objective and impartial means available – through testimony before the Tompkins County grand jury,” he said.

“The Grand Jury may consider Jane Doe’s testimony as well as any new evidence raised by the allegations in the civil complaint. Following a vote by the Grand Jury to indict any or all persons involved, this office will pursue charges zealously and to the fullest extent of the law,” the prosecutor’s statement continued.

Giuffra told CBS News they welcome the reopening of the criminal investigation, saying it’s “a step in the right direction, albeit a late one.”

“However, I hope that the prosecutor will recognize the need to present and thoroughly investigate the case and develop all possible leads, despite the delays,” he added. “My client and I would be very disappointed if this was a half-hearted effort.”

Cornell said he supported the prosecutor’s decision to reopen the case.

The accused deny the accusations

The lawsuit identifies one of the accused fraternity members from the time as Scott Kretzchmar, who allegedly sent two replies in the Snapchat group.

Her attorney, Jeremy Saland, acknowledged to CBS News that the messages were inappropriate, but said they did not constitute evidence of sexual assault.

“This is a situation where there was an ugly Snapchat — ugly, period. … But that doesn’t make my client a rapist and it certainly doesn’t make anyone a sex offender,” Saland said.

Saland said Kretzchmar briefly entered the room where the woman was, in response to the post “that a lot of people saw,” and said he did not touch her “in any way” and left a few minutes later.

“She was not incoherent, but in fact she was coherent and left that room again without touching her or having any physical interaction with her,” Saland said.

The attorney said the university concluded Kretzchmar was not responsible for anything the woman alleges in her complaint.

As for the ketamine use charge, Saland said Kretzchmar performed a hair follicle test that determined he did not have ketamine in his system.

“We would certainly present evidence of the hair follicle test that demonstrably and scientifically shows that he did not ingest ketamine as the plaintiff claims,” he said.

Saland said that while no one has contacted him about a new investigation, “we welcome the opportunity.”

“We are available to present exculpatory evidence. I just hope that the right thing is ultimately done, that this case is brought to an end and that my client can live his life and not be subjected to this selfish, disgusting and vile assertion made about him by this woman,” he added.

Andrew Miltenberg, an attorney representing Gillio Lopes, another fraternity member accused in the civil suit, told CBS New York that his client “unequivocally denies the allegations against him.”

“Cornell has previously investigated these allegations. The allegations now made public differ from what was reported and investigated during this process,” Miltenberg said. “These are serious accusations, but accusations are not evidence. Mr. Lopes must be judged based on evidence and not bias based on allegations made in a trial or repeated in the media. We will address these issues through the appropriate legal process.”

CBS News has contacted the other defendants named in the civil lawsuit.

Lilia Luciano, Kinjal Patel and Mahsa Saeidi contributed to this report.