U.S. prosecutors in New York State said they will reopen a criminal investigation into the 2024 rape of a woman at Cornell University.
The woman filed a civil lawsuit on September 16 this year, alleging that she was drugged and raped by multiple people in a fraternity house at the university.
Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten said on Monday (28th): "Once we determine the appropriate charges, the case will be prosecuted through the grand jury in the most objective and fair manner."
Cornell University said that while the school supports bringing the case to a grand jury, "any suggestion that the university has not imposed substantive penalties on those involved is false."
The woman is identified in court documents as Jane Doe (female name remains anonymous). She alleged in the lawsuit that on the evening of October 19, 2024, seven men from the Chi Phi fraternity chapter of Cornell University allegedly sexually assaulted her, and the incident involved alcohol and ketamine.
Jane Doe said in her lawsuit that she was intoxicated during the incident and was unable to give consent.
She said that she reported the crime to the Cornell University police on November 8, 2024.
The lawsuit also includes a screenshot purportedly from the fraternity's Snapchat group chat, in which a participant used vulgar words to alert other members that they might have an opportunity to have sexual contact with Jane Doe.
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Van Houten said Monday that his office believed the evidence provided by Jane Doe's statements to authorities following the incident two years ago did not meet the legal threshold to bring criminal charges.
He said he proactively contacted Jane Doe and her attorneys to request more information as the case was being prepared to be presented to a grand jury.
Under the U.S. legal system, prosecutors will convene a grand jury to review evidence and testimony, and the jury will ultimately vote to decide whether the evidence is sufficient to initiate criminal prosecution.
In her statement, Van Houten outlined statements Jane Doe made to the Cornell University Police Department after an alleged assault in 2024. He noted that the statement was different from the allegations in the civil lawsuit.
"Jane Doe's sworn statement in November 2024 did not allege that she was forcibly drugged or that she was raped by multiple people," Van Houten said in a statement Monday.
"To the contrary, Jane Doe's statements describe her participation in drug use and sexual activity as voluntary, sober, and consenting."
Van Houten added that Jane Doe's attorney never contacted him to say her initial statement was inaccurate or asked him to reconsider his decision not to press charges.
He later admitted, "The reality is that sexual assault victims may need years of therapy and healing before they can fully process and understand what happened to them."
The BBC has contacted Jane Doe's lawyer Thomas Giuffra. He issued a statement to the BBC's US partner CBS on Monday, saying: "In the days following the incident, (Jane Doe) was traumatized and numb, unable to function or accept the horror of what had happened. She was acting in a defensive mode."
Giuffra said Jane Doe never spoke about the incident to anyone other than the officer who initially responded to the report. "At the very least, I expected that she would be interviewed multiple times by the police, and that law enforcement officers would collect evidence and gradually build a case. This is normal procedure in serious criminal investigations," he said.
"The defensiveness that I sensed in the DA's statement leads me to believe that they realize there were mistakes and are trying to make excuses for those mistakes," he said.
Jane Doe also alleged in the civil lawsuit that Cornell University failed to protect her and did not adequately punish the man involved. She alleged that the man involved was "provided with the opportunity to mitigate the consequences of his conduct by submitting an article."
Jane Doe suffered "severe emotional and psychological distress, as well as physical harm" as a result of the incident and the university's handling of it, the lawsuit states, adding that word of the incident quickly spread around campus.
In November 2024, Cornell University issued a public statement regarding "serious and deeply disturbing allegations of drug abuse and sexual violence" within the Chi Phi fraternity house, stating that the campus police department was investigating and had suspended the local chapter of Chi Phi fraternity and "multiple students."
Cornell University also said it has launched an internal investigation and a civil rights investigation under the Title IX law. Title IX prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex at schools that receive federal funding, including most universities.
Cornell University on Monday denied Jane Doe's claims that the school did not adequately investigate or punish those suspected of being involved.
The university said in a statement that the case was handled by a "team of trained faculty and staff," who imposed "a range of sanctions," including expulsion from Cornell and suspension.
"None of those charged were given the opportunity to write an article solely because of their involvement in the incident," Cornell said.
Jeremy Saland, an attorney for one of the men named in the lawsuit, denied the allegations.
Salander acknowledged that his client "responded and made an immature comment on Snapchat" but "did nothing else". Salander denied that his client "engaged in any sexual conduct, did not touch the complainant in any way, and did not take ketamine."
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