An attorney representing a Cornell University student who alleges that several fraternity members gang-raped her is rejecting claims that newly released text messages prove the encounter was consensual.
Thomas Giuffra told the Daily Mail that his client, identified in court filings as Jane Doe, stands by her allegation that she was drugged and sexually assaulted at the Chi Phi fraternity house in October 2024.
His comments followed the publication by TMZ of messages Jane Doe sent to two of the men she accused, Matthew Ingalls and Jonathan Newell. In those exchanges, she appeared to minimize or characterize the alleged incident differently.
In one conversation with Newell, she wrote that “none of the sexual stuff was illegal.” She also referred to the encounter as a “gangbang” and said, “our body our choice.”
Giuffra, however, said the messages should not be interpreted as evidence that Jane Doe consented.
The attorney said his client displayed what he described as “classic symptoms of delayed recognition”—a process in which an alleged assault victim may need time to understand the seriousness of what occurred.
“This is a well-known phenomenon which is widely reported in medical and psychological literature,” Giuffra said.
“Most rape survivors do not immediately identify what happened to them as rape.”
Ingalls, Newell and the other men named in the allegations—Winston Lee, Gillio Lopes, Diego Sarabia, Scott Norris and Scott Kretzschmar—have not been criminally charged. All of them deny the accusations.
The lawyer for a Cornell student who alleges that fraternity members gang-raped her has rejected claims that newly released text messages indicate the encounter was consensual
The fraternity members have consistently denied sexually assaulting Jane Doe. Those who acknowledge that sexual activity occurred maintain that it was consensual.
Local prosecutors declined to pursue criminal charges. Cornell nevertheless opened a Title IX investigation after the 2024 allegations, and the proceeding resulted in the expulsions of Newell and Ingalls.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul last week appointed Attorney General Letitia James to examine whether Jane Doe was the victim of a crime. The recently disclosed messages could become a significant part of the evidence—and potentially raise questions for any jury if the dispute reaches trial.
The texts released Thursday show Jane Doe anxiously discussing rumors about her encounter with Newell and Ingalls circulating across the Cornell campus. She told them she feared her “reputation is destroyed.”
The conversations included efforts to identify who had spread the rumors. Both men told Jane Doe they had attempted to stop the gossip.
Some of the messages also appeared to conflict with the rape allegations outlined in Jane Doe’s civil lawsuit. Writing to Newell, she said: “At the end of the day none of the sexual stuff was illegal, and honestly i really liked being w u and matt.”
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She added: “I don’t think we should feel any shame for the part. our body our choice asf.”
Despite the release of the messages between Jane Doe, Newell and Ingalls, Giuffra told the Daily Mail that the civil lawsuit against the seven fraternity members includes what he called a “mountain of evidence” supporting her allegations.
“It does a disservice to survivors to selectively utilize information without understanding what it means,” the attorney said.
The messages show accuser Jane Doe telling fraternity member Matthew Ingalls, pictured above, that she feared campus rumors had left her reputation “destroyed”
‘Following the assault, Ms. Doe exhibited the classic symptoms of delayed recognition. This is a well-known phenomenon which is widely reported in medical and psychological literature.
‘Most rape survivors do not immediately identify what happened to them as rape.
‘In the immediate aftermath of a rape, the brain processes trauma through shock, dissociation, appeasing, or masking distress rather than immediately identifying it as rape.
‘When the perpetrator is a romantic partner or friend, victims frequently second-guess their own perception. This is exactly what Ms. Doe was doing here.’
Giuffra added that Jane Doe’s alleged experience involved alcohol and drugs, which can result in ‘confusion, memory-gaps or self-blame that obscures the emotional reality of non-consensual acts at first.’
Protests erupted on Cornell’s campus this week as Jane Doe’s case continues to spark controversy across the nation
‘Survivors are unable to identify an assault as rape until they process the event and engage with trusted friends who help them reach the point of acceptance,’ he said.
‘Once Ms. Doe was able to accept the fact that she was a survivor of sexual assault, she vigorously confronted the perpetrators and pursued her rights.’
‘Unfortunately, we live in a world of 5 second clips without the ability or desire to understand the mental processing of rape survivors and the anguish that they go through in processing their trauma.
‘We have tried to explain this in interviews previously. The desire for a simple answer to a complex question does a disservice to survivors.
‘Delayed recognition has been studied extensively in medical science.’