Cornell Rape Allegations Spark Active Criminal Investigation, NY AG Letitia James Says

New York Attorney General Letitia James said Friday that her office has launched an “active criminal investigation” into allegations of a 2024 gang rape at Cornell University.

James spoke after New York Gov. Kathy Hochul appointed her independent special prosecutor in the case. “This is now an active criminal investigation led by the office of the attorney general,” she said.

“Every New Yorker deserves to know that when they report a crime, it will be investigated fully and fairly, that they will be seen and heard. That is the promise of our justice system,” James said.

She said her office would follow the facts and the law as it carries out the duties assigned by Hochul’s executive order. Investigators will review evidence, interview witnesses and pursue criminal charges if warranted. “I know that you want answers. I do too,” James added.

Hochul signed the executive order Thursday, pointing to “serious questions” about the Cornell Police Department’s investigation and the Tompkins County district attorney’s decision not to prosecute an alleged sexual assault reported on the university’s campus in October 2024.

The woman, identified in court filings as Jane Doe, filed a civil lawsuit in September accusing seven members of Cornell’s Chi Phi fraternity of sexual assault and rape.

According to the complaint, members of the fraternity’s Xi chapter supplied Doe with alcohol and drugs until she became intoxicated. She alleges that members of the organization then sexually assaulted and raped her at Cornell.

The Tompkins County district attorney’s office reviewed the matter at the time but declined to bring criminal charges.

In a statement dated Sept. 28, 2026, the district attorney’s office said Doe’s sworn statement from November 2024 did not claim that she had been drugged against her will or gang raped. Instead, the office said, her account described drug use and sexual activity as voluntary, conscious and consensual. Prosecutors also said they could not have relied on allegations from a civil lawsuit filed nearly two years after their decision.

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Cornell University said in a statement to Fox News after Friday’s press conference that it supports James’ appointment and efforts to reform New York’s rape law. The university also said it would conduct an independent external review of how the case was handled.

The New York attorney general’s office and the Tompkins County district attorney’s office did not immediately respond to News Outlet’s requests for comment.

Hochul said recent reporting showed Doe had been unequivocal in telling investigators that she believed she had been raped. However, she said that information was not included in the account Cornell police forwarded to prosecutors. The New York Times reported that Doe told Cornell officers she had been raped, but that allegation was omitted from the voluntary statement provided to the district attorney’s office.

“The attorney general then declined to pursue charges after reviewing that incomplete account and never interviewing her,” Hochul said. She questioned why police would not elevate allegations that Doe had been gang raped while intoxicated by five men at a fraternity house, and why prosecutors would not interview Doe or other people involved or request the complete transcript.

Matthew Van Houten, the Tompkins County district attorney, said he had not been told that the statement provided to his office was inaccurate or incomplete.

“I have never been contacted by Jane Doe’s attorneys” to say the original statement was inaccurate or to request that prosecutors reconsider their decision, Van Houten said. He added that he contacted the attorneys after the lawsuit was filed to understand the differences between the initial statement and the complaint and to determine how to proceed.

Hochul also announced that Cornell had reopened its own investigation alongside James’ criminal inquiry.