'She Said It Was Consensual': US District Attorney's Shocker In Cornell Case
Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten has released details from a 2024 police statement by a Cornell student to explain why criminal charges were not pursued in an alleged fraternity gang rape case. The DA stated the accuser's initial testimony described the encounter as consensual, contradicting her later civil lawsuit.
Why it matters
The case highlights the complexities of sexual assault investigations, the role of public pressure on legal transparency, and the tension between criminal and civil legal proceedings.
A US district attorney has released new disturbing details about a Cornell University student's alleged fraternity gang rape, explaining why he reopened the investigation after accuser "Jane Doe" filed a civil lawsuit against the seven Chi Phi fraternity brothers and the school. Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten also detailed the accuser's statement submitted to campus police in November 2024, about a week after she claimed seven men drugged and raped her during an hours-long assault at their Ithaca house.In the copy of the statement accessed by NDTV, Houten said that Doe's 2024 testimony to police presented a different version of events from the details in the new civil complaint she filed against the seven accused and the university, while insisting that "it can take years of therapy and healing for victims of sexual assaults to fully process and understand what happened to them."He also blamed his extraordinary move…
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