In October 2024, a Cornell university student staggered into the Chi Phi fraternity house after a night partying with her sorority sisters, intending to meet up with a friend for an afterparty.
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student → stagger → afterparty
What followed was a night of heavy drug taking, drinking and sexual activity, the details of which have been plunged into controversy and ignited debates over women's safety across the nation.
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details → follow → nation
Two years on, the accuser - identified only by the pseudonym Jane Doe - filed a bombshell civil lawsuit in New York alleging that she was gang raped in the fraternity house.
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she → identify → house
The lawsuit included harrowing allegations - that the 20-year-old sorority girl was drugged with ketamine and sexually assaulted by seven men over a seven-hour ordeal in a fraternity bedroom.
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girl → include → bedroom
The incident sparked outrage at the Ivy League campus at the time, but failed to make national news as prosecutors decided not to bring charges.
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prosecutors → spark → charges
Prosecutors determined there was 'insufficient evidence' to bring criminal sexual assault charges, and said the accuser was 'voluntary, conscious, and consensual' throughout the night.
But authorities have since re-opened the case and appointed a special prosecutor to investigate Jane Doe's claims in the wake of her lawsuit.
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authorities → determine → lawsuit
Here, the Daily Mail takes a look through what we know about the case, and what could come next in the high-profile investigation.
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what → take → investigation
An alleged gang rape at the Chi Phi fraternity house at Cornell University in October 2024 has been thrust into the spotlight after the alleged victim brought a civil lawsuit against seven of its members
What are the civil lawsuit allegations?
Jane Doe filed a bombshell civil lawsuit last month alleging that seven men from Cornell's Chi Phi fraternity drugged and sexually assaulted her during a night of heavy drinking and drug taking.
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men → allege → drinking
The student, who was 20 at the time, alleged that she was too intoxicated to provide consent during a seven-hour ordeal inside the fraternity house.
She said the night began her night at her Delta Delta Delta sorority house, before moving to two bars downtown, Moonies and Lot 10, where she alleges she was served alcohol despite being underage.
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she → allege → alcohol
Jane Doe said she was then invited to an afterparty at the Chi Phi fraternity house, and she 'stumbled alone' to meet up with her friend, Matthew Ingalls.
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she → say → friend
She said she then agreed to have sex with Ingalls and another man, but alleged that she was pressured to snort ketamine and smoke marijuana as she became heavily intoxicated.
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she → say → marijuana
Jane Doe alleges that she became disorientated as other men joined in, all while the men sent a message to the Chi Phi Snapchat group to say there was 'free p***y upstairs' in an invite for others to enter the room as well.
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others → allege → room
The messages also allegedly included an invitation to 'walk in and whip it out', the lawsuit claims.
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lawsuit → include → it
One of the men allegedly posted to the fraternity's active-members Snapchat group saying that there was 'free p***y' upstairs, referring to Doe, according to her lawsuit
Cornell University and local authorities have been heavily scrutinized for their handling of the case
Who are the accused?
The Chi Phi fraternity brothers who were named by Jane Doe's lawsuit are Matthew Ingalls, Jonathan Newell, Winston Lee, Gillio Lopes, Diego Sarabia, Scott Norris and Scott Kretzschmar.
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who → post → lawsuit
The seven men have all denied the allegations against them, and none have been arrested or charged with a crime in connection with the lawsuit.
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none → deny → lawsuit
Ingalls was said to have been friends with Jane Doe before the alleged assault, and he invited her to an afterparty at the fraternity house on the night of the incident.
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he → say → incident
In newly released audio from a conversation between the pair in the days afterwards, Ingalls was heard telling Jane Doe: 'You did tell me you were sober, by the way.'
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you → release → way
He also told her that she 'said yes' when he asked her for a threesome, but she responded by saying: 'If I wanted to take this somewhere, what y'all did would be classified as gang rape.'
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did → tell → rape
Jane Doe also told Ingalls she had spent time in the emergency room and in therapy following the alleged assault in the fraternity house, because there was 'so much damage on my body and my brain.'
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she → tell → body
The fraternity brothers have denied the allegations, and none have been arrested or charged with a crime in connection with Jane Doe's lawsuit
Why is the accuser anonymous?
The Cornell student who launched the allegations filed her lawsuit under the pseudonym Jane Doe primarily to protect her identity and privacy.
The move to remain anonymous in the lawsuit was not surprising given the sensitive and traumatic nature of the case, which has gone on to shock in the weeks after it was filed.
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it → deny → weeks
The woman's attorney, Thomas Giuffra, said she has faced an onslaught of social media scrutiny and national attention since filing the lawsuit, as he said some have tried to publish her identity online.
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some → say → identity
'She's not doing well,' Giuffra told CNN, saying she is 'under siege on social media.
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she → do → media
Amid the frenzy surrounding her allegations, Jane Doe's attorney said at least three other women have been incorrectly identified as the victim in the case.
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women → surround → case
Why was no one charged with any crime at the time?
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one → charge → time
Jane Doe first spoke to Cornell University police in November 2024, around three weeks after the alleged assault.
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Doe → speak → assault
According to a transcript of her interview, Jane Doe told investigators that the alleged sexual assaults came after a night of heavy drinking and drug use, and she said she had gaps in her memory of the episode.
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she → accord → episode
The transcript showed she said initial sexual activity with two of the fraternity brothers was consensual, saying: 'I was super drunk when I got there...
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I → show → brothers
She said more of the fraternity brothers then continued joining them, and said the night became out of control as she grew more intoxicated.
'And then, of course, I was being hit at the same time.
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I → say → time
Physically hit very, very hard,' she said, per the transcript.
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she → hit → transcript
However, after the initial review was carried out, Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten declined to bring charges and dropped the case.
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Houten → carry → case
Van Houten said there was 'insufficient evidence to support criminal charges', and said investigators determined that the sexual activity inside the fraternity house was consensual.
Van Houten also said Jane Doe's claims in her civil lawsuit are 'dramatically different' than her statements to police two years ago.
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claims → say → police
The decision not to charge the fraternity brothers has since come under scrutiny, leading Van Houten to defend the move in a statement last month, saying the furor over the case has led the public to believe 'incomplete' facts.
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furor → charge → facts
Van Houten insisted that Jane Doe's sworn statement in November 2024 'did not allege that she was drugged against her will or gang raped', and said she described her actions as 'voluntary, conscious, and consensual.'
Jane Doe's civil lawsuit included harrowing allegations - that the 20-year-old sorority girl was drugged with ketamine and sexually assaulted by seven men over a seven-hour ordeal in a fraternity bedroom
What punishments did the university impose?
While the seven accused fraternity brothers did not face criminal charges, Cornell convened a Title IX investigation into the incident and doled out internal punishments on four of them.
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Cornell → insist → them
The Title IX panel did not conclude that all seven men sexually assaulted Jane Doe, and punishments on the men ranged from expulsion to writing a paper explaining the incident.
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punishments → conclude → incident
Two of the fraternity brothers, Matthew Ingalls and Jonathan Newell, were expelled from Cornell University, as the panel found them responsible for sexual assault.
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them → expel → assault
Winston Lee was issued a two-year suspension following the Title IX investigation, but he was not kicked out of Cornell and he has since reportedly returned under disciplinary probation.
Gillio Lopes was also hit with a three-semester suspension, and both he and Lee also had to write reflection papers and undergo sexual harassment training courses.
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he → issue → courses
Diego Sarabia had already graduated and could not be subject to Title IX punishments, but he was issued a persona non grata order barring him from the campus for three years.
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he → graduate → years
Two others who were named in Jane Doe's lawsuit - Scott Kretzschmar and Scott Norris - were found not to be responsible for sexual activity, and their punishments did not include expulsion or any suspensions.
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punishments → name → expulsion
In October, New York Governor Kathy Hochul announced that she was appointing the state's Attorney General as a special prosecutor in the case
Has the criminal case been reopened?
The case was reopened in late September, soon after Jane Doe filed her civil lawsuit against the seven fraternity brothers.
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Doe → announce → brothers
The decision to reopen the case came two years after it was initially dropped without charges by Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten, who found there was 'insufficient evidence' to support Jane Doe's claims.
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who → reopen → claims
…and 38 more, not listed.
The Aporia
