NY prosecutor reopens two-year-old alleged gang rape case at Cornell

New York persecutor reopens an alleged gang rape case at Cornell

University from two years ago after the victim filed a civil lawsuit

against the school and seven members of a now suspended chapter

of a fraternity who are her alleged perpetrators.

This as American lawmakers renew scrutiny of a law on

intoxication and consent that some say perpetuates victim blaming.

A New York prosecutor reopens an investigation into gang rape

allegations at a Cornell University

fraternity in response to a civil lawsuit filed

by a woman who says she was sexually assaulted in 2024 by seven

students after being plied with alcohol and drugs.

This following calls from New York Governor Kathy Hochul for

an investigation.

Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten says

his office will present evidence to a grand jury as he faces questions

from the public about why there were no criminal prosecution in the two-year old

incident.

The woman, identified only by a pseudonym in the lawsuit, filed the complaint September

16, saying she was sexually assaulted at the Chi Phi fraternity house on the Ivy League

campus in October 2024 after being pressured into snorting ketamine, smoking

marijuana and drinking alcohol.

The lawsuit alleges she became completely incapacitated while frat members were sexually

assaulting her.

The woman went to campus police at the time, but Van Houten says the

accuser did not make any claims of being gang-raped or drugged in her

initial sworn statement to authorities.

The school says it conducted its own investigation and issued sanctions,

including expelling some students and suspending others. Some of the accused

were asked to submit essays.

It also says the on-campus Chi Phi chapter was closed in 2024

and remains barred from the school.

The accuser now is suing the men, the Chi Phi fraternity, the university,

an Ithaca bar and others, seeking undisclosed damages.

The prosecutor says he was never contacted by the woman's attorney

about her statement or about reconsidering the decision not to

prosecute, but he reached out to them recently.

The university says in a statement it agrees with the decision to

reopen the investigation while defending their handling of the

situation two years ago.

The allegations, which has been grabbing international headlines,

renew criticism of the New York Penal Law Article 130 on sex offences.

Rape charges generally need to involve forced or a clear refusal of sex, unless

the victim is physically helpless due to being unconscious, or mentally

incapacitated due to being drugged without consent.

Those limitations create what some call the "voluntary intoxication loophole,"

where voluntary intoxication does not equate to incapacity to

consent unless the person is "physically helpless."

Prosecutors face higher threshold in this scenario since the accuser was

intoxicated prior to the assult and the

Tompkins County district attorney is citing this as the reason why charges

were not first brought forth in 2024.