New York AG Letitia James takes over Cornell gang rape investigation after DA ignored key evidence
From the Newshound archive · first published 28 September 2026 · last updated 4 October 2026.
Seven Cornell students accused of rape in 2024, whom Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten now plans to bring before a grand jury after the original inquiry was criticised as inadequate.Letitia James, appointed by Governor Kathy Hochul as special prosecutor with power to lead the inquiry after Hochul said she had lost faith in the county DA's ability to oversee it fairly.Kathy Hochul, who cited the alleged victim's lawyer noting his client had 'zero confidence' in the local DA as she signed the executive order removing him from the case.Cornell University's Ithaca campus. A newly released police transcript shows Jane Doe told Cornell investigators she was '100 percent' confident she had been assaulted.
New York Attorney General Letitia James has been appointed special prosecutor to lead the criminal investigation into allegations that seven Chi Phi fraternity brothers drugged and gang-raped a 20-year-old student at Cornell University in October 2024. Governor Kathy Hochul acted after records showed that Tompkins County DA Matthew Van Houten had declined to bring criminal charges without examining additional evidence, including interviews conducted by Cornell campus police. Jane Doe — who says she was pressured into taking ketamine before the alleged attack — told investigators she felt like 'a sex doll for all intents and purposes' and 'like bait, with lions around me.' Hochul declared she had 'lost faith' in the local prosecutor and vowed to close a legal loophole shielding suspects when an alleged victim has voluntarily consumed alcohol.
The DA's office agreed not to pursue charges based solely on a six-page police summary, despite campus police conducting months of further interviews and evidence-gathering.
Fraternity members are alleged to have shared a Snapchat photo of Jane Doe that same night, with one posting that there was 'free p***y' upstairs and another asking 'shop still open?'
Legal experts warn prosecutors face an uphill battle because of New York's 'voluntary intoxication loophole' and the fact Jane Doe did not report the attack to police for nearly three weeks.
