Prosecutors reopen probe into alleged gang rape at Cornell University - Newsweek

A criminal probe into an alleged gang rape at a Cornell University fraternity house has been reopened following community outcry, prosecutors said Monday.

Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten said he intends to "seek justice" after a former student filed a civil complaint on September 16 alleging she was drugged and sexually assaulted by seven former and current members of Chi Phi fraternity at the Ivy League university in upstate New York.

"I have been asked by the community to revisit the decision whether to pursue criminal charges against the seven fraternity members," Van Houten said in a statement obtained by Newsweek. "I have already begun that process, starting with our conversation with Jane Doe and her attorneys. Once we determine the appropriate charges, the case will be prosecuted in the most objective and impartial means available—by testimony to the Tompkins County grand jury."

A senior prosecutor will oversee the preparation of the case for a grand jury, including the alleged victim's testimony and any new evidence drawn from her civil complaint, Van Houten said.

"Upon a vote by the grand jury to indict any or all of the individuals involved, this office will prosecute the charges zealously and to the fullest extent of the law," the prosecutor said.

Jeremy Saland, an attorney for one of the accused, responded to the allegations, telling Newsweek that the woman's claims are "intentionally dishonest" and morally repugnant.

Cornell University backed the decision to reopen the criminal probe into the seven former fraternity members: Scott Kretzschmar, Scott Norris, Matthew Ingalls, Johnathan Newell, Winston Lee, Gillio Lopes and Diego Sarabia. The school's Chi Phi chapter shuttered in 2024 and remains barred from campus.

"Cornell University supports the decision of the Tompkins County District Attorney (DA) to provide an opportunity for the victim’s story in the 2024 Chi Phi fraternity sexual assault case to be heard by a criminal grand jury," the school said in a statement.

The alleged gang rape was reported to campus and Ithaca police roughly one week after the 20-year-old student said she met Ingalls at a frat house in October 2024, according to a 101-page lawsuit filed on September 16.

After allegedly declining an offer of a threesome with two fraternity brothers, the student says Ingalls pressured her to snort ketamine while ingesting marijuana and high-proof rum, according to the lawsuit.

The student says Ingalls and Newell then engaged in sexual acts "without her consent," including oral and vaginal intercourse. According to court documents, the student says Lopes then replaced one frat brother who left the scene and alleges that Newell encouraged others to join via a Snapchat message.

The attack, during which Chi Phi frat brothers are also accused of pouring lines of ketamine onto the woman's body, continued until she lost consciousness, her lawsuit claims.

Criminal charges were not filed in late 2024 because the woman did not allege she was drugged against her will or gang raped, Van Houten said.

"On the contrary, Jane Doe's statement described her participation in drug use and sexual conduct as voluntary, conscious, and consensual," he said. "My office obviously did not and could not have based our November 2024 decision on the allegations in a civil lawsuit that would not be filed until nearly two years later."

Van Houten said he contacted attorneys for the alleged victim after she filed the civil lawsuit to "understand the discrepancy" between her initial statement and accusations contained in her civil lawsuit.

Saland, an attorney for Kretzschmar, said that the woman's allegations are a "reckless disregard for the truth," and he said that a hair follicle test indicated Kretzschmar did not consume ketamine before the alleged encounter.

"While Scott responded to and made an immature comment on Snapchat, he did nothing else," attorney Jeremy Saland told Newsweek in a statement. "Nothing. For the few minutes he was in the room with the plaintiff, Scott did not see her in duress or undress, was involved in no sexual activity nor touched the plaintiff in any way and ingested no ketamine."

"The plaintiff can peddle any story she wants, but intentionally victimizing an innocent person for a money grab is reprehensible," Saland's statement continued. "Equally abhorrent, apparently the plaintiff withheld the truth from the same young men she nonetheless accused of putrid acts."

Saland also noted that Van Houten said the woman had never indicated she was drugged without her knowledge and admitted to participating voluntarily.

"Equally shocking, and knowingly withheld from these young men, the plaintiff did not assert she was helpless, unconscious, or incapacitated at any time in the fraternity house," Saland's statement continued. "The honest and ethical thing to do would have been to share this with Scott during the Title IX investigation and consider the same before filing the bogus complaint."

Saland says his client has been "victimized irreparably" and welcomed Van Houten reopening the investigation.

"If the hobbling of young men in the Duke Lacrosse tragedy has taught us anything, we need to cast aside the pitchforks of prejudgment and let the facts come out," the attorney said, referring to the well-known Duke University case where a woman later admitted to falsely accusing students of rape. "We are confident an honest examination will exonerate him once again."

Saland said the allegations have led to Kretzschmar being doxed.

"Plaintiff and her attorney are complicit in this and this was likely part of their goal when they filed this false suit," Saland's statement concluded. "I have gotten threats that I should be raped and killed for defending him. This is the world we live in today, and the power of collective stupidity, the brain numbing of the internet, and the narcotic-like desire for self-aggrandizement and instant gratification."

Thomas Giuffra, an attorney for the alleged victim, challenged Saland's account when reached on Monday afternoon.

"His client received the outrageous group chat inviting the fraternity to abuse Ms. Doe," Giuffra told Newsweek in a statement. "It cannot be disputed that his client could have protected Ms. Doe and did not. The claims of the attorney that he was trying to help Ms. Doe are inconsistent with the evidence and his comments on the group chat. Instead of helping her, he joined in the abuse of an incapacitated young woman. No claims were ever made that he raped her. However, he did participate in sexual abuse of Ms. Doe."

Giuffra also rejected Kretzschmar's claims of innocence.

"What else could he say? However, to label this case as a money grab is beyond offensive and this attorney should be ashamed of himself for dismissing this tragedy in such a crass manner," Giuffra said. "The only members of the fraternity who showed any moral courage was the individual who leaked the group chat to my client. If this brave person had not done so, we would not have this critical piece of evidence."

Cornell said it also conducted a thorough Title IX investigation into the woman's allegations, which included claims that university officials allowed the seven accused fraternity brothers to "mitigate their conduct" by submitting essays.

"During that investigation, temporary suspensions and other restrictive measures were used," Cornell said in a statement. "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."

Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Jason Lemon and Geoffrey Rowland.