New York Governor Kathy Hochul on Friday appointed state Attorney General Letitia James as a special prosecutor to take over the case of an alleged gang rape at Cornell University, saying the alleged victim was failed "at every turn" by people and institutions obliged to protect her. Hochul also pledged to close a legal loophole that can allow offenders to avoid rape charges when a victim was voluntarily intoxicated.
The case centres on a lawsuit filed in September by a former student, identified as Jane Doe. She alleges that in 2024, when she was a sophomore, seven members of the Chi Phi fraternity supplied her with alcohol, marijuana and ketamine and then sexually assaulted her at an on-campus fraternity house after she became incapacitated. She is suing Cornell, an Ivy League university in Ithaca, in New York's Finger Lakes region, along with the fraternity members and other parties. The New York Times, citing internal Cornell documents, reported that the men denied wrongdoing; some said the sex was consensual, others denied taking part.
Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten declined to prosecute in 2024, saying the victim's testimony did not establish a lack of consent. After the lawsuit surfaced and new information emerged, the investigation was reopened and he said he planned to file charges. He now supports a special prosecutor but has defended his earlier decision. James, a Democrat, said she would "review the facts, gather evidence, interview witnesses, and if warranted, pursue prosecutions." Hochul criticised the original police handling, asking why campus police who heard an account of a gang rape did not pass it to the district attorney. "I will not allow anyone to sweep this case under the rug," she said.
Cornell says it conducted a comprehensive investigation, closed the Chi Phi chapter and imposed sanctions including suspensions and expulsions. It denies that essays were the only punishment for any student, and says privacy laws limit what it can disclose. It has agreed to bring in outside lawyers to review how the 2024 complaint was handled. At a Student Assembly hearing on Thursday, students criticised the administration's lack of transparency; the body unanimously asked for a full account of the investigation. A 2025 university survey found 35 percent of undergraduate women reported nonconsensual sexual contact involving force or incapacitation since arriving at Cornell, up from 20 percent in 2021.
The loophole Hochul wants to close reflects provisions in New York and several other states that make prosecution harder when someone became voluntarily intoxicated to the point of being unable to give or withhold consent. "Voluntary intoxication is not a license for sexual assault or gang rape," Hochul said. Shiwali Patel of the National Women's Law Center said the gap matters particularly on campuses, where most sexual assaults involve alcohol or drugs.
The case also highlights the limits of university power. As one education scholar notes, schools can expel students or close fraternity chapters but cannot bring criminal charges, leaving that to prosecutors.