Cornell Rape Allegations Prompt Criminal Probe by NY AG Letitia James

New York Attorney General Letitia James said Friday that her office has launched an “active criminal investigation” into allegations of a gang rape at Cornell University in 2024.

James made the announcement after New York Gov. Kathy Hochul appointed her independent special prosecutor in the case.

“Every New Yorker deserves to know that when they report a crime, it will be investigated fully and fairly, that they will be seen and heard. That is the promise of our justice system,” James said.

“I stand ready to lead a process guided by the facts and the law,” she added. “In the coming months, my office will dutifully carry out the responsibilities the governor has conferred upon us in this executive order. We will review the facts, gather evidence, interview witnesses and, if warranted, pursue prosecutions. I know that you want answers. I do too.”

Hochul signed an executive order Thursday naming James special prosecutor, pointing to “serious questions about the investigation conducted by the Cornell Police Department and the decision by the Tompkins County District Attorney not to prosecute an alleged sexual assault on Cornell University’s campus in October 2024.”

A woman identified in court filings as Jane Doe filed a civil lawsuit in September alleging that seven members of Cornell’s Chi Phi fraternity sexually assaulted and raped her.

Doe’s complaint alleges that members of the fraternity’s Xi chapter “plied” her with alcohol and drugs until she became intoxicated, leading to her “being sexually assaulted and raped by members of Xi chapter’s regional fraternal organization at Cornell University.”

The Tompkins County district attorney previously reviewed the matter and decided not to file criminal charges.

In a Sept. 28, 2026 statement, the District Attorney’s Office said Doe’s sworn statement from November 2024 “did not allege that she was drugged against her will or gang raped.” Instead, the office said, the statement characterized her drug use and sexual conduct as voluntary, conscious and consensual. The office also said it could not have relied on allegations from a civil lawsuit filed nearly two years later.

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Cornell said in a statement to Fox News after Friday’s news conference that it “fully support[s] the appointment of a special prosecutor and efforts to change New York State’s rape law.” The university also said it would conduct an independent external review of how it handled the case.

The New York attorney general’s office and the Tompkins County district attorney’s office did not immediately respond to News Media’s requests for comment.

Hochul cited a New York Times report that said Doe told Cornell police she had been raped, but that allegation was omitted from the voluntary statement the department forwarded to prosecutors. “According to new reports, [Jane Doe] could not have been clearer that she was 100% confident that she had been raped,” Hochul said.

Hochul questioned why the allegation was not escalated to prosecutors and why Doe was not interviewed by the district attorney. “The attorney general then declined to pursue charges after reviewing that incomplete account and never interviewing her,” she said. “Think about that. In what world would the police learn from a victim that she’d been literally gang raped while intoxicated by five men in a fraternity house, and not elevate those allegations to the district attorney? In what world does the district attorney not even interview her or anyone else involved, or even request the full transcript?”

Matthew Van Houten, the Tompkins County district attorney, said he had not been told that the statement provided to his office was inaccurate or incomplete.

“I have never been contacted by Jane Doe’s attorneys. Not to inform me the original statement was inaccurate and not to ask me to reconsider our decision,” Van Houten wrote. He said he contacted Doe’s attorneys after the lawsuit was filed to ask about the differences between the original statement and the allegations in the complaint and to determine the appropriate next steps.

Hochul also said Cornell has reopened its own investigation alongside James’ criminal inquiry.