A Cornell University student who alleges that seven classmates gang-raped her exchanged messages with one of the men about tracing the source of rumors surrounding the disputed sexual encounter. In the conversation, the pair suggested that people spreading the story might be “jealous.”
The student, identified in a civil lawsuit by the pseudonym Jane Doe, claims she was drugged and sexually assaulted by seven members of the Chi Phi fraternity after a party in October 2024.
The men deny the allegations and have not been charged. They maintain that their sexual activity with Jane Doe at Cornell’s campus in Ithaca, in upstate New York, was consensual.
TMZ has published messages exchanged between Doe and Matthew Ingalls, one of the accused men. The texts appear to indicate that the pair remained friendly after the alleged assault, while Doe expressed concern about damage to her reputation on campus.
In a message sent to Ingalls days after the alleged assault, Doe wrote: “jonathan def told people. i heard something today and i know he told people. he was a (sic)pi phi two nights ago too.” The reference may have been to another defendant, Jonathan Newell.
Ingalls replied: “He didn’t talk about it at pi phi for sure. They wouldn’t bring that up in front of him when his story has been it’s not true the whole time. I’ll ask him – though it was definitely one of the upperclassmen in the room who told someone else and it spread. That one isn’t believable though.”
When Doe apparently did not respond, Ingalls sent another message two hours later: “Who told you this? If we can narrow down the girl we can narrow down suspects. I know it wasn’t Johnathan. Trust me he would never.”
Doe answered: “she wouldn’t tell me who she heard it from cause it’s one of her friends so im j dropping it i give up im defeated.”
Ingalls responded with sympathy, writing: “I’m so sorry (Jane’s real name) ik this sucks a lot but I think (hopefully very soon) these idiots will move on and it’ll be done with.”
A separate set of texts obtained by TMZ also showed Doe telling Ingalls that she was suffering from a urinary tract infection, or UTI, after the encounter. Ingalls offered her reassurance.
Doe wrote: “you’re right it’ll get better and u think everyone’s j jealous of us.. but also like everyone needs to grow up cause sexuality and sex and s**t is changing and stuff like this is going to become more common,, i’m also really open minded tho. i luv u king…”
Newly published texts show the Cornell student who alleged she was gang-raped by fraternity members telling one of the men that people were “jealous” of them days after the alleged assault
The messages show Jane Doe telling fraternity member Matthew Ingalls, pictured above, that she feared campus rumors had “destroyed” her reputation
Doe’s lawsuit has triggered widespread media attention and renewed scrutiny of Cornell’s handling of the case. In the complaint, she said she went to the Chi Phi fraternity house after a night of partying to meet Ingalls.
She alleges that she initially agreed to a threesome with Ingalls and another man, but claims she was then given ketamine and alcohol until she became incapacitated. Several other men allegedly joined in.
According to the lawsuit, the encounter lasted seven hours. During that time, fraternity members allegedly used a Snapchat group chat to advertise “free p***y,” while one participant asked: “Shop still open?”
Ingalls is named in the lawsuit alongside Jonathan Newell, Winston Lee, Gillio Lopes, Diego Sarabia, Scott Norris and Scott Kretzschmar. All seven men deny the allegations, and none has been charged.
The latest messages show Ingalls attempting to reassure Doe in the aftermath of the alleged sexual assault, describing rumors about the night as “nonsense.”
“Boring people who have nothing to do with their time,” he wrote. “It’ll blow over in a couple days I imagine, until then we just have to sit tight.”
He added: “How’ve you been coping with the stress? You need anything?”
Jane Doe responded to say she was ‘f***ing p***ed’ about the gossip, ’cause this many people shouldn’t know.’
‘I feel like I know who some of the rats in the room were, if I ever find out I swear to god it’s in sight,’ she wrote.
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‘Literally people are making it crazier every f***ing day… On top of it I have a uti and all I do is sleep and cry all day.’
Previously released screenshots from Jane Doe’s civil lawsuit revealed that the Chi Phi fraternity brothers sent messages on the night of the alleged assault, advertizing ‘free p***y’
One man involved in the Snapchat group had allegedly asked ‘Shop still open?’ shortly after a photograph of Jane Doe was shared in the messages, according to a screenshot filed in the civil complaint
Protests erupted on Cornell’s campus this week amid backlash to the case
Matthew then consoled Jane Doe and said it was ‘incredibly overwhelming and f***ed up on all fronts.’
‘I’ve been dealing with similar stuff on my end but obviously it doesn’t compare to what you’re going through,’ he wrote.
‘Stupid b****es like to yap, and the fact they’re doing it shows that they’re jealous of you for any number of reasons.’
Separate texts show another of the fraternity brothers named in Jane Doe’s lawsuit, Jonathan Newell, texting her after the encounter to say how he was sorry ‘for how things went down the other night.’
Separate messages also reveal Jane Doe texted fraternity brother Jonathan Newell (above) that ‘none of the sexual stuff was illegal’. She went on to accuse him in her civil lawsuit
Newell said his ‘memory’s kinda fuzzy’ about the details, but said he and Ingalls ‘feel like s*** for being too f***ed up to shut it down and kick people out before it got way out of hand.’
‘You’re an amazing person and I genuinely hope ur not catching as much heat from this as we are. We’ve been shutting down any stories we’ve heard but again I’m so so sorry.’
Jane Doe responded to say her memories of the night were ‘super clouded too,’ and said it was because ‘we were all way to f***ing drunk and high.’
‘At the end of the day none of the sexual stuff was illegal, and honestly i really liked being w u and matt,’ she wrote.
‘So anything anyone has to say about the gangbang is out of their jurisdiction. I don’t think we should feel any shame for the part. our body our choice asf.’
However, the texts show Jane Doe’s attitude towards the incident changed in the days after those texts, and she went on to tell Ingalls that ‘Jonathan def told people.’
Ingalls denied Jane Doe’s claim that Newell spread rumors about their tryst, but she responded: ‘I’m j dropping it i give up im defeated.’
When Jane Doe then said she was uninvited from the Chi Phi Halloween party, she said: ‘i knew this was going to happen. the woman will always get the short end of the stick. Yall aren’t my friends. yall are covering your asses.’
On November 7, 2024, Ingalls then reached out to Jane Doe, saying: ‘My ex told me that I’m being labeled as an assaulter in the public eye, I was going to ask if you may have said something along those lines to someone but i know you wouldn’t.’
Jane Doe said she hadn’t told anyone the story, but wrote: ‘I do know people are changing the narrative because like in any sexual scenario w one woman and many men the woman was probably victim.’
‘I know there are rumors I was gang banged,’ she wrote.
On November 8, he asked if they could talk, but she fired back: ‘I think I’m done talking to you. I know you lied.’
