District attorney defends past decision not to seek criminal charges in Cornell rape allegations

Outrage has been building nationwide over the handling of an alleged sexual assault at Cornell University two years ago, prompting prosecutors to announce they are taking a new look at the case, while defending their past decision not to seek criminal charges. Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten said in a statement Monday that his office is considering whether to bring criminal charges related to a 2024 incident at the Chi Phi fraternity house. In a civil lawsuit filed earlier this month, a former Cornell student identified as Jane Doe alleges she was sexually assaulted, raped and plied with drugs by seven Chi Phi fraternity brothers at the on-campus fraternity house the evening of Oct. 19 and into Oct. 20, 2024. The fraternity chapter was subsequently barred from campus, but no one was criminally charged. According to the lawsuit, some of the students were able to “mitigate their conduct” by writing essays to the university. Van Houten said in a statement that he was reopening the investigation into the alleged sexual assault and asked a senior prosecutor to prepare a case for a grand jury. That grand jury will be able to consider Jane Doe’s testimony, as well as any new evidence from the civil complaint. “While I generally refrain from commenting publicly on criminal investigations, the community outrage stemming from the incomplete news and social media coverage requires that I provide an answer to why the investigation resulted in a lack of criminal charges,” he said in the statement. Van Houten defended his office’s decision not to seek criminal charges at the time, saying that in a November 2024 statement Doe did not allege that she was gang-raped or drugged against her will. “On the contrary, Jane Doe’s statement described her participation in drug use and sexual conduct as voluntary, conscious, and consensual,” he wrote, adding that Doe’s attorneys never reached out to him before filing the civil lawsuit two years later. Thomas P. Giuffra, the attorney for Jane Doe, said that in the days following the assault, his client was “traumatized, numb and unable to function or accept the horror of what had happened.” “She was in self preservation mode,” he said in a statement provided Sunday. Giuffra said Doe went to the Cornell University Police Department “once she was emotionally ready” because she believed she was the victim of a crime, but that “she was never spoken with by anyone other than the officer who took her original complaint.” Giuffra said if multiple interviews had taken place, leads and more evidence could have been obtained. He said a group chat that was shared anonymously with Doe, a screenshot from which was included in the lawsuit, had multiple comments from fraternity members. In one comment, a fraternity member said there was “free p---” available upstairs where Jane Doe was. “This thread was a valuable starting point to identify witnesses and possibly other assailants,” he said. “However, it was never followed up on.” NBC News reached out to Ithaca police to ask about its involvement in the case but did not immediately receive a response. The Ithaca Police Department is actively investigating the allegations, according to the civil lawsuit. Cornell Police referred NBC News to previous statements issued by the university defending how it handled the allegations. The district attorney said it was not the role of his office to “conduct parallel independent investigations of cases alongside police investigations” and that police investigate crimes while the district attorney’s office prosecutes them. The lawsuit names seven members of the Chi Phi fraternity “for the sexual assault and rape of” Doe. The attorney for one of the accused men, Scott Kretzschmar, strongly denied the accusations and said his client welcomed the new investigation. “The lawsuit against Scott Kretzachmar is not only intentionally dishonest but morally repugnant,” attorney Jeremy Saland said in a statement. “While Scott responded to and made an immature comment on Snapchat, he did nothing else. Nothing.” NBC News attempted to contact the six others named in the lawsuit but was not immediately able to reach them or did not receive a response. Giuffra, Doe’s attorney, said reopening the case was a step in the right direction, “albeit a late one.” Cornell University’s role Cornell University on Monday said it supports the Tompkins County district attorney’s decision to have the case heard before a criminal grand jury. The statement pushed back on the suggestion that those involved in the incident faced few consequences at the time, revealing that the university’s Title IX proceedings resulted in a range of sanctions, including expulsions and suspensions. “Any suggestion that the university did not impose consequential punishments for those involved is false,” Kyle Kimball, Cornell’s vice president for university relations, said in the statement. Cornell said that its Title IX investigation lasted several months and included temporary suspensions while the case was pending. A panel of faculty and staff heard evidence over multiple days before imposing sanctions, the university said in a statement. The lawsuit accuses Cornell University of negligence in failing to protect Doe, then a 20-year-old student, when she was in the university’s custody, failing to prevent the alleged sexual abuse on its campus and failing to supervise students. In its statement earlier this month, the university said it launched the Presidential Task Force on Campus Sexual Assault shortly after the incident and implemented recommendations to address sexual assault on campus. Cornell said in its statement that “none of the individuals charged were offered the opportunity to write essays as a sole consequence of their involvement. In addition, the involved fraternity chapter was closed in 2024 and remains barred from campus.” The night of the alleged assault According to the lawsuit, Doe was a member of Tri Delta National’s Alpha Beta Chapter and lived in the campus sorority house at the time of the alleged assault. The evening of Oct. 19, Jane Doe drank to the point of intoxication at her sorority house on campus before attending a social event her sorority was hosting at Moonies Bar & Nightclub in downtown Ithaca, the suit states. The lawsuit states that she left with other sorority sisters around 10 p.m., went to another bar, and then went alone to the Chi Phi frat house on campus, where the alleged sexual assault took place, to meet one of the members, who is described as her friend. The suit accuses the Chi Phi Chapter, Chi Phi National, the Alpha Beta Chapter, Tri-Delta National and Moonies Bar & Nightclub of negligence. The Chi Phi National fraternity in a statement Sept. 18 called the sexual assault allegations at Cornell University “deeply concerning.” “We are aware of the lawsuit concerning an alleged incident in 2024,” the fraternity said in the statement. “While we cannot discuss the specific allegations during pending litigation, we take this matter seriously. Our responsibility is to approach this with care for those affected and respect for a fair legal process.” Tri Delta and the Alpha Beta Chapter at Cornell said in a statement Sunday that the sorority doesn’t comment on pending litigation and that they support women and victims of sexual violence. The lawsuit also accuses Moonies of unlawfully selling alcohol to an intoxicated person or minor. Moonies said in a statement Sept. 21 that it hosted a private event for the Tri Delta sorority on Oct. 19 from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m., but denied serving the victim alcohol because she was underage. The bar said that the victim was employed with the bar from February to March 2025, during which time “she openly discussed the details of the October incident.” The statement from the bar expressed sympathy for Doe. “However, she never mentioned being intoxicated or served alcohol by Moonies’ bartender,” it added. Public outrage over the allegations in the lawsuit escalated over the weekend, culminating in the district attorney’s statement announcing the case would be reopened and sent to a grand jury. Van Houten said in his statement Monday that after the lawsuit he reached out to Doe’s attorneys to understand the discrepancy between Doe’s original statement and the lawsuit “and the proper path forward in light of the lawsuit’s allegations.” If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, call the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-4673. The hotline, run by the Rape, Abuse, & Incest National Network (RAINN), can put you in contact with your local rape crisis center. You can also access RAINN’s online chat service at rainn.org/get-help.