An upstate district attorney on Monday exposed lurid new details about a Cornell University student’s alleged fraternity gang rape — blaming his extraordinary move on people flooding his office with phone calls.
asserted
attorney → expose → calls
The seamy disturbing details were gleaned from a six-page statement that the “Jane Doe” accuser submitted to campus police in November 2024, about a week after she claimed seven Chi Phi fraternity brothers drugged and raped her during an hours-long gang assault at their Ithaca house.
asserted
brothers → glean → house
Embattled Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten — in releasing parts of her statement — insisted it provided no claims of criminal misconduct, leaving his office no choice but to pass on bringing any charges against the accused frat bros at the time.
uncertain
it → embattle → time
He said over the weekend — under intense public pressure — that he is now reopening the investigation only because of a civil suit she filed against the young men and school that provided alleged details his office did not know about.
asserted
office → say → details
Van Houten’s statement Monday provided an excruciatingly detailed account of what the alleged victim said happened to her.
asserted
victim → provide → her
“Male Number 1 brought Jane Doe to a ‘quiet area’ and ‘asked how [Jane Doe] would feel about having a threesome with two male partners,'” his office wrote, quoting the woman’s police report, which described how she met up with “Male 1” at his fraternity after a night at the bars.
asserted
she → bring → bars
“Doe ‘agreed due to how attracted [she] was to [Male Number 1] on top of [her] drunken curiousness,'” it continued.
asserted
it → agree → curiousness
“When she learned that Male Number 2 would be the third participant, Jane Doe ‘remembered being excited because [she] thought that [Male Number 1 and Male Number 2] wanting to have a threesome meant that they were gay.'
asserted
they → learn → threesome
From there, the night descended into a scene of shocking bacchanal, with the group snorting ketamine off each other’s naked bodies and guzzling booze as they had sex — with some of the men struggling to stay conscious and dry-heaving as they tried not to vomit, her statement said.
“At the start of the threesome, Jane Doe described her intoxication level as ‘5 or 6 out of 10’ and that she was “pretty ok with having this threesome,'” the statement said.
asserted
statement → descend → threesome
Later, another brother tried to get in the room, with Doe letting him in “because it was his room,” before they and Male 2 allegedly started having sex alongside the passed-out Male 1.
uncertain
they → try → Male
“‘[Male Number 1] would eventually wake up’ and ‘said he wanted to take part and asked about making it a foursome, to which [Jane Doe] said ‘Hell No,'”
asserted
Doe → wake → which
Jane Doe rejected this request ‘because [she] knew that a foursome meant that [she] would have to take part in anal sex,'” the DA said, continuing to quote Doe’s statement.
asserted
DA → reject → statement
Other men then began also entering the room, where Doe said she was beginning to lose track of what was happening in her deepening intoxication from the drugs and booze.
asserted
what → begin → drugs
“‘[Male Number 7] said something very rude and mean to [her].’
asserted
Number → say → her
Male Number 7 apologized and ‘grabbed [her] face and started kissing [her].”
asserted
Number → apologize → ]
Jane Doe ‘quickly backed away to stop [Male Number 7] from kissing [her],'” the statement said.
asserted
statement → back → ]
“The males began complimenting Jane Doe and ‘talking about how pretty [she] was.’
asserted
she → begin → Doe
Male Number 4 ‘asked [Jane Doe] if they all could do drugs off of [her] perfect body.’
uncertain
they → ask → body
Jane Doe responded, ‘Sure.’
asserted
Doe → respond → ?
“Jane Doe ‘remembered snorting more Ketamine’ and ‘remembered feeling extremely high.’
asserted
Doe → remember → Ketamine
Male Number 1 ‘said he wanted to have sex again because he wanted redemption for passing out earlier in the night,'” the statement said.
asserted
statement → say → night
“Jane Doe initially stated that she was tired and asked Male Number 1, ‘What happened to just you and me?’
asserted
What → state → you
Jane Doe could not remember how it started but she then engaged in a threesome.”
uncertain
she → remember → threesome
The disturbing night finally ended 5:45 a.m. — about four hours after it started — when the woman described herself as being an 8 out of 10′ intoxication level and she said she told the brothers she “was tired and needed to turn in.
asserted
she → end → brothers
“At that point, both guys stopped the threesome with [her] as far as [she] can remember,” the DA’s statement concluded.
asserted
statement → stop → her
DA Van Houten insisted nothing about Doe’s comments indicated a crime had been committed — saying there was no physically forced sex, that all drugs and alcohol were taken on the then-20-year-old’s own volition and that she never claimed to have been unconscious and helpless at any point.
asserted
she → insist → point
“Jane Doe’s sworn statement in November of 2024 did not allege that she was drugged against her will or gang raped,” Van Houten said.
asserted
Houten → swear → will
“On the contrary, Jane Doe’s statement described her participation in drug use and sexual conduct as voluntary, conscious, and consensual.
asserted
statement → describe → use
“While the behavior of certain Chi Phi fraternity members was without question disgusting and morally reprehensible, the foundation of the criminal justice system is that criminal prosecutions must be based upon evidence and not emotion,” he added.
asserted
he → base → evidence
Exactly what crime was alleged, Van Houten did not clarify.
asserted
Houten → allege → ?
But he said the Cornell University Police Department brought Doe’s statement to his office “to determine if her allegations constituted a crime under New York law.”
asserted
allegations → say → law
After Van Houten determined there was no crime, he said neither the woman nor her lawyer ever reached out for clarification.
asserted
woman → determine → clarification
But now she’s submitted a lawsuit against the seven fraternity brothers — Johnathan Newell, Winston Lee, Gillio Lopes, Diego Sarabia, Scott Norris, Scott Kretzschmar and Matthew Ingalls — claiming she was clearly incapacitated and taken advantage of during the assault.
asserted
she → submit → assault
That lawsuit even revealed a damning text chain among the fraternity brothers — where one said there was “free p–sy,” and another remarked, “You can walk in a whip it out.”
asserted
You → reveal → it
She also claimed most of the fraternity brothers were let off the hook by Cornell — which reportedly allowed them to “mitigate their conduct by submitting essays.”
uncertain
them → claim → essays
Van Houten said he released part of her police statement to quell the flood of enraged phone calls and emails his office had been receiving since news broke about the case.
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news → say → case
“Some people have understandably sought answers.
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people → seek → answers
Others have simply insulted and sometimes threatened my office and my staff,” Van Houton said.
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Houton → insult → office
“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 added.
asserted
he → stem → charges
Seasoned former prosecutors told The Post that Van Houten’s move to release such a lengthy statement — and verbatim excerpts from a victim statement — was highly unusual.
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move → tell → statement
…and 18 more, not listed.
The Aporia
