New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said Friday that a Cornell University student who allegedly was raped by fraternity members had been “failed at every turn.” She removed the local district attorney from the case and placed state Attorney General Letitia James in charge of the investigation.
Hochul expressed outrage after learning that the accuser told investigators from the outset that she was “100%” certain she had been raped. Yet, she said, those words were “shockingly” omitted from the police report sent to prosecutors, who later declined to pursue the case.
“This young woman had already endured something that is utterly unspeakable,” Hochul told reporters at a Manhattan news conference Friday. “And then at every turn she was failed by people and institutions with an obligation to protect her.”
Hochul issued an executive order this week directing James to assume control of the criminal investigation. The move followed reports about the disturbing allegations, which drew national attention and prompted questions about how Cornell and local officials handled the case.
The governor said she no longer had confidence in Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten’s investigation after new reporting uncovered discrepancies between the DA’s account of the student’s initial report and what she told Cornell police.
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Van Houten said he chose not to prosecute the case in 2024 because the student’s sworn statement to Cornell University police, although disturbing, did not explicitly accuse the male students of rape.
However, a transcript of the student’s conversation with Cornell campus police and Title IX officials, obtained this week, showed that she said: “I can say with 100% confidence I was raped.”
“Yet shockingly, those words never made it into the account that Cornell police sent to prosecutors,” Hochul said.
