Jane Doe filed a lawsuit on Sept. 16 in the Cornell 7 case, alleging seven Cornell University students sexually assaulted her at the Chi Phi fraternity house in October 2024. The lawsuit says she was visibly intoxicated when she went there alone after being out at bars for a sorority event on Oct. 19, 2024.
The complaint says the episode ended around 5:45 a.m., when Doe lost consciousness. It names Scott Norris of Canandaigua as one of the seven students and says the accuser is also suing six other students, Chi Phi, Cornell University, an Ithaca bar and others.
Matthew Van Houten on the police account
District Attorney Matthew Van Houten said the Tompkins County District Attorney's Office will now investigate the reported allegations fully after reopening the criminal investigation Monday. He said the male students involved did things that were morally wrong.
Van Houten also said Doe's initial account to police did not include allegations that she was drugged, incapacitated beyond the ability to consent, or forced into sex. He has not released her sworn statement to police, but he did release a summary with some of her direct quotes included.
What the lawsuit alleges
The complaint says Doe was pressured into snorting ketamine, smoking marijuana and drinking alcohol, then became completely incapacitated while fraternity members were sexually assaulting her. It also alleges that she knew defendant Matthew Ingalls, who proposed a threesome after she arrived.
Doe alleges the defendants later gave her additional drugs and alcohol before engaging in sexual acts without her consent. The complaint also says defendant Jonathan Newell sent a message to a Snapchat group chat encouraging others to join, and that seven defendants, including Norris, poured lines of ketamine on Doe's body and snorted them.
Cornell response and Tuesday comments
Doe reported the incident to Cornell's campus police department in 2024, and the Tompkins County District Attorney's Office opted not to prosecute anyone at the time. Cornell said its police department investigated the matter in 2024 and shared all investigative information with the district attorney's office.
Statements from the 2024 investigation obtained by reportedly indicate Doe described some sexual activity as consensual and recounted instances in which she declined certain sexual acts proposed by the men. On Tuesday, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul called for an investigation into the university's response.
The reopened case now puts the focus on what changed between the earlier no-charge decision and Monday's reversal. Van Houten has said his office will investigate the reported allegations fully, but he has not said what evidence prompted the new review.
