DA defends decision not to prosecute alleged Cornell 'gang rape' case in 2024
“If what was said on social media about this case was true, those fraternity members would be in prison right now,” Van Houten told ABC News.
The district attorney for Tompkins County in New York has reopened an investigation into an alleged gang rape at Cornell University. According to the alleged victim, she was drugged with ketamine and assaulted by seven members of the Chi Phi fraternity in 2024.
The case was initially closed without prosecution, but the district attorney, Matthew Van Houten, has now decided to pursue charges. Van Houten previously declined to prosecute because the victim's testimony did not establish a lack of consent, but has since changed his decision in light of new allegations.
Cornell University closed the fraternity and expelled several students involved. The university's vice president, Kyle Kimball, stated that the school supports the decision to reinvestigate the case. The district attorney said he recognises that it can take time for victims of sexual assault to process and understand what happened to them, and that seeking justice sometimes requires reconsidering or reopening cases.
Brief written by urgent.news from CBS News, ABC News (US), France 24, Free Malaysia Today, CBC News — 5 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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