Prosecutor reopens investigation into Cornell fraternity rape allegations
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What are the allegations in the Cornell fraternity sexual assault case?
It's consider this where every day we go deep on one big news story. Today, new allegations raise questions about sexual assault on college campuses. New York prosecutors are reopening the investigation into an alleged gang rape that took place at Cornell University in twenty twenty four. The alleged incident involved seven members of an on campus fraternity and an alleged victim who's identified as Jane Doe. In a civil suit filed earlier this month, she says the fraternity members drugged her, then raped her for hours.
We acknowledge that there are going to be uh things that she remembers that she didn't remember in November of twenty twenty-four. There are things that she understands and comprehends that she didn't necessarily understand at that point.
That's Matthew Van Houten, district attorney for Tompkins County, New York, speaking to WSYR in Syracuse. His office reopened the investigation.
That's the human side of this that We acknowledge and and we want to uh meet with her and and talk through because uh that's the only way we're going to understand it.
Consider this: prosecutors are taking a closer look at the case. What do we know about how we got here, and how are students on campus reacting? From NPR, I'm Juana Summers.
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Yeah, yeah.
It's consider this from NPR. A prosecutor in New York has reopened an investigation into the alleged drugging and gang rape of a female student at Cornell University in twenty twenty-four. And Pierre's Brian Mann has been following the story and joins me now. Hi there. Hi, Wana. Brian, if this allegedly happened back in twenty twenty four, why is it only being investigated now?
Why did New York prosecutors reopen the Cornell rape investigation?
Yeah, Matthew Van Houten is the prosecutor in Tompkins County in upstate New York where Cornell is located. And he put out a statement this morning saying his office has faced a wave of outrage for not pursuing criminal charges sooner. Van Houten says he did review the incident when it first roiled Cornell's campus community two years ago. He says at the time, the woman gave a detailed statement to Cornell Campus Police where she described much of the incident, and I'm going to The quote here as voluntary, conscious, and consensual. Van Houten says based on that information, he decided not to pursue the case, but now he's reviewing criminal charges that he says will be presented to a grand jury.
I was just taking a look at this lawsuit and it includes some really harrowing new information. What have we learned?
Yeah, in her civil lawsuit filed this month, the woman identified as Jane Doe describes a brutal assault.
What does Jane Doe’s civil lawsuit allege about the 2024 assault?
She wasn't old enough to drink legally, but says she was pressured at a chi-fi fraternity party to use alcohol and drugs. She describes then being gang raped, often while she was incapacitated over a period of hours. The lawsuit filing includes a screen capture of Snapchat messages between some of the men where they appear to joke and invite others to Take part. This lawsuit also accuses Cornell University of failing to properly respond to the alleged violence. I should say we don't know exactly what actions Cornell took against these individuals. The university said some were suspended or expelled, but campus officials have declined to say what happened after that. In a statement today, Cornell University spokesperson Kyle Kimball said, and again I'm quoting here.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What are the allegations in the Cornell fraternity sexual assault case?
0:00–2:33
2
Why did New York prosecutors reopen the Cornell rape investigation?
2:33–3:22
3
What does Jane Doe’s civil lawsuit allege about the 2024 assault?
3:22–4:21
4
How have public figures and social media reacted to the Cornell case?
4:21–5:19
5
How common is sexual misconduct on college campuses?
5:19–6:10
6
How are Cornell students responding to the sexual assault allegations?
6:10–7:25
7
What is the Cornell Daily Sun criticizing about the university’s response?
7:25–8:37
8
What changes is the Cornell Daily Sun demanding to improve campus safety?
8:37–11:34
Speakers
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