A member of the so-called “Cornell 7” was expelled from the Ivy League university after a Title IX panel determined he had engaged in intercourse with his accuser without “affirmative consent,” according to her attorney.

The accuser, identified in a civil lawsuit by the pseudonym Jane Doe, claims she was drugged and sexually assaulted by seven members of the Chi Phi fraternity following a party in October 2024.

Jonathan Newell, who is named as a defendant in the lawsuit, is believed to have been expelled after Cornell University completed a Title IX investigation into the incident, attorney Thomas Giuffra told TMZ.

“We believe that [the posted text messages] formed part of the Title IX process, which resulted in Mr. Newell’s expulsion after 12 days of evidentiary hearings and extensive documentary evidence,” Giuffra said.

“It is undisputed that the Hearing Panel found Mr. Newell violated Ms. Doe’s bodily safety by initiating intercourse without her consent.”

A person who reviewed the panel’s decision said it concluded that Newell had not obtained “affirmative consent.”

Giuffra also believes a Snapchat post by Newell, which reportedly showed Doe lying on a bed alongside the message “Free p***y,” contributed to further assaults.

“The Hearing Panel also found that Mr. Newell chose to sexualize and broadcast Ms. Doe’s vulnerability, inviting further abuse that resulted in at least three men unknown to Ms. Doe—and likely more—sexually abusing her,” Giuffra added.

Earlier Friday, Giuffra told the Daily Mail that his client continues to stand by her claims that she was drugged and sexually assaulted at the Chi Phi fraternity in October 2024.

He dismissed text messages published by TMZ on Thursday in which Jane Doe appeared to downplay the alleged assault while communicating with two of the men she accused, Newell and Matthew Ingalls.

In messages to Newell, she wrote that “none of the sexual stuff was illegal” and referred to the encounter as a “gangbang” that was “our body our choice.”

Giuffra, however, argued that the messages did not establish that the encounter had been consensual.

The attorney said Jane Doe was displaying what he described as “classic symptoms of delayed recognition”—a situation in which an alleged victim does not immediately understand the seriousness of what happened or recognize it as a possible crime.

“This is a well-known phenomenon that is widely documented 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 fraternity members named in the case—Winston Lee, Gillio Lopes, Diego Sarabia, Scott Norris and Scott Kretzschmar—have not been charged with a crime. All of them deny the allegations.

The fraternity brothers have insisted that they did not sexually assault Jane Doe, and those that admit to sexual activity have said the incident was consensual. 

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Local prosecutors declined to bring charges against the men, however the allegations from 2024 led Cornell to launch a Title IX investigation that resulted in Newell and Ingalls both being expelled. 

New York Governor Kathy Hochul last week appointed her Attorney General Letitia James to investigate whether Jane Doe had been the victim of a crime.

In the messages revealed on Thursday, Jane Doe was shown to have been nervously messaging Newell and Ingalls about rumors of their tryst spreading around Cornell’s campus, and she said she was worried her ‘reputation is destroyed.’

They spoke of ‘narrowing down the suspects’ for who spread the rumors, and both men reassured Jane Doe that they had tried to shut down the gossip. 

However, the messages also appeared to contradict the allegations of rape that Jane Doe brought in her civil lawsuit, including telling Newell: ‘At the end of the day none of the sexual stuff was illegal, and honestly i really liked being w u and matt.’

‘I don’t think we should feel any shame for the part. our body our choice asf,’ she wrote.  

Giuffra told the Daily Mail that despite the release of the text messages between Jane Doe and the two men, the civil lawsuit against the seven fraternity brothers contained a ‘mountain of evidence’ to support her claims. 

‘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.

‘It does a disservice to survivors to selectively utilize information without understanding what it means,’ the attorney said. 

‘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.’

‘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.’

A small New Jersey town once hit hard by the opioid crisis reportedly spent more than $170,000 in addiction settlement funds on expensive police SUVs and surveillance cameras instead of drug prevention efforts.

Washington Township reported spending $170,446 on substance abuse initiatives in 2024 and 2025. However, the money was used to purchase 15 Flock surveillance cameras and two 2024 Chevrolet Tahoe SUVs, according to NJ.com.

“That’s absolutely egregious,” Sandy Gibson, an addiction specialist at The College of New Jersey, told the outlet.

“But I would hold the state accountable. We’re not auditing?”

Town records also show that officials did not spend any of the settlement money on drug abuse prevention programs in schools, despite that being one of the initiative’s stated purposes.

The spending is part of a broader and troubling pattern across New Jersey. An NJ.com investigation found that dozens of communities used at least $2.3 million in opioid settlement funds on lavish purchases, including concerts, branded clothing and even a muscle car.

Beginning in 2022, money from settlements with major pharmaceutical companies began flowing into municipal coffers. The agreements, totaling more than $50 billion, resolved thousands of lawsuits involving companies linked to the pharmaceutical supply chain and were intended to help communities recover from the devastating opioid epidemic.

The funds were designated for education, prevention and treatment. Yet some New Jersey towns instead used the money to upgrade streets and lighting or buy new municipal equipment.

Matthew Thomas Rooney, Washington Township’s solicitor, blamed the previous administration for the questionable spending.

“The current administration is committed to transparency, and it will continue to review all budgeting priorities, including the best ways to help combat the opioid crisis … and will continue to work with the state on the best path forward,” Rooney told the publication in a statement.

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“Nothing is more important to the current administration than keeping the people of Washington Township safe.”

At the height of the opioid crisis, Washington Township ranked among the 30% of New Jersey municipalities with the highest per-capita addiction rates. The township recorded 5.78 cases per 1,000 residents in 2019 and 5.36 cases per 1,000 in 2021.

Gibson said she was appalled by what she described as the township’s lack of action.

“I can’t see how there’s been no response or action taken to address that,” Gibson told NJ.com. 

“Inaction at the level of the state is permission.”

The township said it spent $134,321 on a middle school “narcotics and education” program in 2024. It reported another $36,125 in 2025 for an initiative labeled “early prevention.”

“These folks … they’re responsible for our tax dollars,” resident Joe Junfola said.

“To the extent that they get grants, such as the opioid funds, they’re tasked with using that money responsibly.”

Former Mayor Laurie Burns, a Democrat, accused the town’s current Republican leadership of playing politics and attempting to “wash their hands” of the controversy.

“It’s a joke that the Washington Township’s Republican Mayor and Council would now try to wash their hands of decisions they made and point the finger elsewhere,” she wrote in an email.

“They did it, and they have a responsibility to answer for it now.”

CHICAGO (WLS) — Chicago police say the mother of a 3-year-old boy who died last summer is now facing criminal charges and is being held in the city after an investigation that went unresolved for more than a year.

Felicia Hirn, 32, the mother of Leland Chipoco, has been charged with three felonies, including murder and aggravated battery of a child.

Hirn was taken into custody in Maryland, and the ABC7 I-Team has learned that she has since been returned to Chicago.

The charges came just two days after the ABC7 I-Team reported on the family’s 15-month effort to get answers in the death of Leland Chipoco.

Leland’s father, Mark Chipoco, said the arrest brought a sense of relief after months of waiting.

“After a year of waiting, I’m relieved that they are finally doing something for my son,” he said. “This may not be the end—it’s only the beginning—but at least they finally listened and took action.”

Records obtained by the I-Team from the Cook County medical examiner and a hospital provide details about the events surrounding the child’s death.

The medical examiner’s summary said Hirn brought Leland to the hospital and told doctors that he had fallen from a slide and hit his head.

But medical records reviewed by the I-Team listed bruising, retinal and subdural hemorrhages, as well as spinal injuries. Doctors documented concerns about possible child abuse and notified authorities.

Even with those warnings, the investigation remained unresolved for more than a year.

Mark Chipoco said memories of his son help him continue seeking answers and justice. “I feel like he’s with me and supporting me right now,” he said. “I will keep moving forward for him. I will not stop.”

As the I-Team previously reported, Cook County prosecutors obtained a warrant 15 months after Leland’s death, following repeated questions about the status of the case. Hirn was arrested in Maryland in September. The criminal complaint alleges that she “choked Leland CHIPOCO with her hands around the neck and forcibly shook Leland thereby causing the death…”

The Illinois Department of Children and Family Services told the I-Team in a statement that it worked with law enforcement and completed its investigation, which involved allegations against the mother connected to the child’s death and other claims of abuse.

Mark Chipoco said he passes his son’s grave every day while driving to work.

“I truly hope this marks the beginning of justice for my son,” he said.

Hirn is expected to make her first court appearance in the coming days.

SpaceX has reached an agreement to acquire radio-spectrum licenses that could expand Starlink Mobile’s ability to deliver cellular connectivity inside buildings. The company says the deal moves it closer to becoming “a major mobile carrier in the U.S.”

Elon Musk described the acquisition as the final major step in completing SpaceX’s spectrum strategy for nationwide phone coverage. “This is the last critical piece of the spectrum puzzle needed for SpaceX to provide complete phone coverage in America,” he wrote in a social media post Thursday.

The licenses are being purchased from investment firm Grain Management, according to documents filed with the Federal Communications Commission. SpaceX, best known for its rocket launches and space exploration operations, is seeking to use the spectrum to broaden Starlink’s mobile ambitions.

The low-band frequencies are particularly valuable because they can travel through walls and other obstacles more effectively than higher-frequency signals. That capability could help address a key limitation of satellite-to-phone service, as roofs, walls and buildings can interfere with wireless connections.

The transaction remains subject to FCC approval. If cleared, the agreement would let Starlink combine satellite-to-mobile signals with what SpaceX calls an “advanced terrestrial deployment,” creating a network designed to connect compatible devices in more locations.

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SpaceX also said the FCC has approved Starlink Mobile’s request to deploy 15,000 satellites. Those spacecraft would operate in the 2-gigahertz band and connect directly with mobile phones, without requiring specialized user equipment.

UBS analyst John Hodulik said the spectrum should work with existing handsets and that he expects no major regulatory barriers. However, he cautioned that building out SpaceX’s wireless business will take time, meaning the near-term effect on the broader telecom industry is likely to remain limited.

Investors reacted sharply to the prospect of SpaceX becoming a powerful new competitor in the U.S. wireless market. T-Mobile shares fell $18.58, or 11%, to $152.72 in Friday morning trading, while AT&T dropped $1.83, or 7.4%, to $22.76.

SpaceX shares moved in the opposite direction, rising $2.61, or 1.6%, to $163.18.