纽约中部的检察官表示，他们将重启对2024年康奈尔大学兄弟会涉嫌“轮奸”的调查，此前本月早些时候提起的民事诉讼引发了对该事件的愤怒。
汤普金斯县地方检察官马修·范·豪登（Matthew Van Houten）在一份声明中说，他的办公室正在考虑是否对这起事件提出刑事指控，尽管他说民事诉状中的指控与该女子两年前向警方所做的陈述“截然不同”。
“我们打算在无名女尸的配合下将此案提交给汤普金斯县大陪审团，”范·豪登告诉美国广播公司新闻。“我们想重新检查是否有我们在2024年11月不知道的额外证据，这些证据现在存在，会改变我们对案件的评估，并导致大陪审团认定存在犯罪行为。”
该案件的重新审理距离一名前康奈尔大学学生提起民事诉讼不到两周，该学生指控她被康奈尔大学Chi Phi兄弟会的七名成员下药、殴打和轮奸。
根据DA的说法，康奈尔大学的Chi Phi分会在据称的事件发生后被禁止进入校园，尽管据称涉案的个人都没有面临刑事指控。Van Houten表示，他的办公室在2024年没有提出指控，因为该女子向当局提交的陈述没有指控她被下药或她不同意发生性关系活动。
“她从来没有说过她在不知情的情况下被下药了。她承认在知情的情况下自愿吸毒和酗酒。她没有声称她被迫从事任何行为。她没有说她在兄弟会的任何时候都是身体无助、无意识或无行为能力的。
无名氏的律师托马斯·p·朱弗拉（Thomas P． Giuffra）对范霍滕对该女子向康奈尔大学警察局最初陈述的描述提出质疑，并指责当局从未跟进他的当事人。
“根据我的经验，与虐待幸存者交谈需要细心、理解和专业训练。一名普通的大学警官不具备这些技能。这将是一个受过专门训练的侦探或地方检察官的角色。然而，从未有具备这些技能的人联系过多伊女士，”他说。
在接受美国广播公司新闻采访时，范豪登承认他依赖康奈尔警方进行的调查，并表示他的办公室没有“独立调查”这些指控，他说这一政策符合纽约北部的许多县。
Van Houten还说投诉中包括了一个群聊，无名氏声称兄弟会成员讨论所谓的事件-从来没有提供给他的办公室。Giuffra表示，这些信息是2024年向当局提供的“关键证据”。
“我的委托人去了康奈尔大学警察局，因为有人犯罪。警方有义务调查这些投诉。他们被群聊邀请兄弟会成员强奸我的委托人。这是支持犯罪发生的关键证据。尽管如此，康奈尔警方和汤普金斯县地方检察官都没有对多伊女士采取后续行动，”他说。
ABC新闻已经联系了诉讼中被点名的被告，包括七名兄弟会成员、康奈尔和其他人。
康奈尔大学在9月21日的一份声明中表示，它“极其严肃地”对待性暴力指控，其民权办公室和学生行为和社区标准办公室“根据大学政策调查和裁决了这些指控。”
该大学表示，联邦隐私法阻止其公开披露个别学生的具体信息或纪律处分。康奈尔表示，违反大学政策可能会受到包括停学或开除在内的制裁。
康奈尔大学还表示，Chi Phi的Xi分会“仍然被禁止进入我们的校园”
的律师被告Scott Kretzschmar否认了这些指控，并表示诉状中详细描述的事件“并没有发生”
“实际上，斯科特从未以任何方式对原告进行性侵犯，甚至触碰过原告。律师杰里米·萨兰说。“我们期待着在法庭上用证据和她自己的话来对抗原告自私的错误主张。”
被告斯科特·诺里斯否认参与性活动或使用毒品，尽管他承认他发送了一条信息，该信息包含在诉状中。
“我没有参与任何性活动或吸毒。康奈尔大学没有发现我对任何涉及性活动和吸毒的指控负有责任，因为其他人因此受到了严重后果。我不假思索地加入了Snapchat，并在不当行为发生的房间短暂停留，但不是在它发生的时候，”他说。
District attorney reopens case of alleged Cornell University ＇gang rape＇
Prosecutors in central New York say they are reopening the investigation of alleged ＂gang rape＂ at a Cornell University fraternity in 2024 after a civil lawsuit filed earlier this month sparked outrage about the incident．
Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten said in a statement that his office is considering whether to bring criminal charges related to the incident， though he said the allegations in the civil complaint are “dramatically different” than the woman’s statement to police two years ago．
“It＇s our intention to present the case to the Tompkins County grand jury with Jane Doe＇s cooperation，” Van Houten told ABC News． “We want to reexamine whether there＇s additional evidence that we were not aware of in November of 2024， that exists now that would change our assessment of the case and would result in the grand jury finding that there was criminal conduct．”
The reopening of the case comes less than two weeks after a former Cornell student filed a civil lawsuit alleging that she was drugged， assaulted and gang raped by seven members of the Chi Phi fraternity at Cornell．
Cornell’s Chi Phi chapter was barred from campus after the alleged incident， though none of the individuals allegedly involved faced criminal charges， according to the DA． Van Houten said his office did not bring charges in 2024 because the woman’s statement to authorities did not allege she was drugged or that she did not consent to engage in sexualactivities．
“She never says that she was drugged without her knowledge． She admits to taking drugs and alcohol voluntarily and with knowledge． She does not allege that she was forced to engage in any acts． She does not say that she was physically helpless or unconscious or incapacitated at any point during the time at the fraternity house，” Van Houten said．
Thomas P． Giuffra， attorney for Jane Doe， disputed Van Houten’s description of the woman’s initial statement to the Cornell University Police Department and faulted authorities for never following up with his client．
“In my experience， speaking with an abuse survivor requires delicacy， understanding and specialized training． An average University Police officer would not have these skills． It would be the role of a specially trained detective or district attorney． However， Ms． Doe was never contacted by anybody with those skills，” he said．
In an interview with ABC News， Van Houten acknowledged that he relied on the investigation conducted by Cornell Police and said his office didn’t “independently investigate” the allegations - a policy he said was in line with many upstate New York counties．
Van Houten also said that a group chat included in the complaint -- in which Jane Doe claimsmembers of the fraternity discuss the alleged incident -- was never provided to his office． Giuffra said the messages are a “critical piece of evidence” that were provided to authorities in 2024．
“My client went to the Cornell University Police because a crime was committed． It was the obligation of the police to investigate the complaints． They were given the group chat inviting the members of the fraternity to rape my client． This was a critical piece of evidence supporting that a crime had occurred． Despite this there was no follow-up with Ms． Doe either by the Cornell Police or the Tompkins County District Attorney，” he said．
ABC News has reached out to the named defendants in the lawsuit， including the seven fraternity members， Cornell and others．
Cornell said in a Sept． 21 statement that it takes allegations of sexual violence ＂extremely seriously＂ and that its Office of Civil Rights and Office of Student Conduct and Community Standards ＂investigated and adjudicated the allegations consistent with university policies．＂
The university said federal privacy law prevents it from publicly disclosing specific information about individual students or disciplinary responses． Cornell said violations of university policies could result in sanctions up to and including suspension or expulsion．
Cornell also said the Xi chapter of Chi Phi ＂remains barred from our campus．＂
An attorney fordefendant Scott Kretzschmar denied the allegations and said the incident detailed in the complaint “did not happen．”
“At bottom， Scott never sexually assaulted or even touched the plaintiff in any way． Period，” said attorney Jeremy Saland． “We look forward to confronting the plaintiff in a court of law for her selfishly false claims with both the evidence and her own words．”
Defendant Scott Norris denied engaging in sexual activity or drug use， though he acknowledged that he sent a message that was included in the complaint．
“I did not participate in any sexual activity or drug use． I was not found responsible by Cornell for any of the accusations involving sexual activity and drug use for which others received serious consequences． I thoughtlessly engaged in Snapchat and briefly stopped in the room where misconduct happened but not when it happened，” he said．
