DA Reopens Investigation Into Seven Cornell Fraternity Members After Civil Lawsuit Raises New Questions About 2024 Allegations

Cornell University Chi Phi fraternity members were accused of gang-raping a former student, according to a lawsuit filed by the victim ID’d as “Jane Doe.”Google Maps

A central New York prosecutor says his office plans to take another look at allegations involving seven Cornell University fraternity members after a former student filed a sweeping civil lawsuit describing an alleged 2024 sexual assault at a fraternity house.

Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten said his office intends to present the matter to a grand jury with the cooperation of the woman, identified in court papers as Jane Doe. The renewed scrutiny comes after her Sept. 14 lawsuit alleged that she was drugged and sexually assaulted by multiple men associated with Cornell’s Chi Phi fraternity.

No criminal charges related to the alleged assault have been announced. The allegations in the civil lawsuit remain contested, and an attorney representing one of the men has strongly denied wrongdoing by his client.

Prosecutor Says New Evidence Could Change Earlier Assessment

Cornell declined to comment on the lawsuit, including whether the students were offered or submitted essays after the horrific accusations.Getty Images

The lawsuit names Matthew Ingalls, Johnathan Newell, Winston Lee, Gillio Lopes, Diego Sarabia, Scott Norris and Scott Kretzschmar.

Van Houten said the account presented in the civil complaint differs substantially from the statement authorities received following the alleged incident.

His office now wants to determine whether evidence exists today that prosecutors did not have when they assessed the case in November 2024.

“It’s our intention to present the case to the Tompkins County grand jury with Jane Doe’s cooperation,” Van Houten said.

He also acknowledged that prosecutors had relied heavily on Cornell University police’s investigation and had not conducted an independent investigation themselves.

One potentially significant point of dispute involves a fraternity group chat referenced in the lawsuit.

Van Houten said the messages were never provided to his office. Doe’s attorney, Thomas P. Giuffra, disputes that account and maintains that authorities received the material approximately two years ago.

Giuffra described the messages as a “critical piece of evidence.”

Lawsuit Describes Night at Chi Phi House

A screenshot of the “Chi Phi Actives” Snapchat group is shown from Oct. 20, 2024. A lawsuit alleges Cornell fraternity members were offered “essay” mitigation following a gang rape.Obtained by NY Post

According to the 101-page civil complaint, Doe was 20 years old when she went out with sorority friends in 2024 before later meeting Ingalls at the Chi Phi house in Ithaca.

The lawsuit alleges that she was pressured into taking ketamine while also consuming marijuana and high-proof alcohol.

It further alleges that multiple fraternity members subsequently engaged in sexual activity with her without her consent.

The complaint includes a screenshot that it says came from a Snapchat group called “Chi Phi Actives.” According to the lawsuit, Newell allegedly posted a crude message to the group at 1:42 a.m. while Doe was severely impaired.

The filing alleges that other fraternity members subsequently entered the room and that the incident continued for several hours.

The alleged assault was reported to campus and Ithaca police roughly a week later, according to the lawsuit. The fraternity and the seven men were then placed on temporary suspension, the complaint states.

Attorney Questions Handling of Initial Investigation

Giuffra argues that authorities failed to conduct an adequate follow-up interview with his client after she made her report.

He said interviewing a survivor of alleged sexual abuse requires specialized training and contended that Doe was never subsequently contacted by a specially trained investigator or prosecutor.

Giuffra also maintains that investigators had been given the fraternity group-chat evidence.

The district attorney’s renewed review is expected to examine whether additional material now available could alter the earlier decision not to pursue criminal charges.

Lawsuit Alleges Students Were Offered an ‘Essay’ Option

Another allegation in the civil complaint has attracted particular attention.

The lawsuit claims Cornell later gave the accused fraternity members an opportunity to “mitigate their conduct by submitting essays.”

Cornell has not publicly addressed whether the students were offered or submitted such essays.

The university has said it investigated the allegations under its policies and emphasized that the Xi chapter of Chi Phi remains banned from campus.

“We take sexual violence extremely seriously,” Cornell Vice President for University Relations Kyle Kimball said in a Sept. 21 statement.

Cornell has said federal privacy requirements limit what it can publicly disclose about the individual case and that it will respond to the lawsuit through the legal process.

The university also pointed to its Presidential Task Force on Campus Sexual Assault, created after the incident. A March 2026 report cited by Cornell found that 35% of undergraduate female students surveyed said they experienced non-consensual sexual contact in 2025, compared with 23% in 2023.

Case Draws Wider Public Attention

Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez blasted Cornell for protecting the “factory of sexual assault” she said plagues academia during a town hall with students from the Ivy League and Ithaca College on Sunday.More Perfect Union/X

The allegations have since generated criticism of both the university and the earlier handling of the case.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez addressed the controversy during a town hall involving Cornell and Ithaca College students, criticizing what she described as institutional failures surrounding sexual assault in higher education.

Actress Florence Pugh also publicly responded to the allegations, criticizing universities for failing to adequately protect women.

Neither statement constitutes evidence regarding the individual defendants, whose potential criminal liability would have to be determined through the legal process.

One Defendant’s Attorney Strongly Denies Allegations

Jeremy Saland, an attorney representing Kretzschmar, sharply disputed the claims against his client.

Saland acknowledged that Kretzschmar made what he characterized as an “immature comment” on Snapchat but said his client did not participate in sexual activity with Doe, did not touch her and did not take ketamine.

He also challenged the version of events presented in the lawsuit, arguing that Doe’s original account to authorities did not indicate that she had unknowingly consumed drugs or that she was forced to participate in sexual acts.

Kretzschmar, through his attorney, welcomed the possibility of another investigation.

Attorney information for the other men named in the lawsuit was not available in the supplied report.

For now, the civil allegations remain unresolved and no criminal charges stemming from the alleged assault have been announced. The significant development is that prosecutors are once again examining the case — including whether evidence now available warrants presenting the allegations to a grand jury.