{"id":619584,"date":"2026-10-03T16:54:16","date_gmt":"2026-10-03T16:54:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/619584\/"},"modified":"2026-10-03T16:54:16","modified_gmt":"2026-10-03T16:54:16","slug":"ny-governor-says-cornell-rape-accuser-was-failed-by-law-enforcement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/619584\/","title":{"rendered":"NY governor says Cornell rape accuser was ‘failed’ by law enforcement"},"content":{"rendered":"

The woman who accused members of a Cornell University fraternity of gang rape was \u201cfailed\u201d by people obligated to protect her, including campus police and the county prosecutor, New York Governor Kathy Hochul said.<\/p>\n

Content warning: This story discusses rape. A list of helplines can be found at the bottom of the page. <\/p>\n

Hochul said at a news conference that she decided to appoint Attorney General Letitia James as a special prosecutor to take over the investigation after learning \u201ctroubling details\u201d about how authorities have handled the woman\u2019s claims thus far, including that the district attorney closed the case without having anyone interview the accuser or anyone else involved in the alleged attack.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn what world does the district attorney not even interview her, or anyone else involved, or even request the full transcript?\u201d Hochul said. \u201cThis woman, this young woman, had already endured something that is utterly unspeakable. And then at every turn, she was failed by people and institutions with an obligation to protect her.\u201d<\/p>\n

She also assailed the Cornell University Police Department for not fully conveying the woman\u2019s story to prosecutors.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter this young woman came forward, she spoke to the police. She sat for hours and told them exactly what happened to her. And according to new reports, she could not have been clearer that she was 100% confident that she had been raped,” the Democratic governor said. “Yet, shockingly, those words never made it into the account that the Cornell police sent to prosecutors.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"New<\/p>\n

New York Attorney General Letitia James was appointed the case after District Attorney Van Houten was taken off it. (Source: Associated Press)<\/p>\n

Governor brings in James after losing faith in the DA<\/p>\n

Hochul said that she appointed James to oversee the case because she had lost faith in the local district attorney\u2019s ability to handle it.<\/p>\n

Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten, who was removed from the case, said that he supports James\u2019 appointment.<\/p>\n

\u201cI trust that she will examine the facts and apply the law,” Van Houten said in a statement. \u201dIt has become clear that we were not provided the full picture by the University. The focus has been and should continue to be on the victims.\u201d<\/p>\n

James didn’t say how long her investigation might take, but suggested it would take months.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will review the facts, gather evidence, interview witnesses and, if warranted, pursue prosecutions,\u201d James said. \u201cI know that you want answers. I do too. A comprehensive investigation of this nature takes time, but my office is committed to seeing it through.\u201d<\/p>\n

The investigation initially was closed without charges in 2024. Van Houten reopened the investigation after the woman filed a new lawsuit against seven former members of the Chi Phi fraternity, as well as Cornell and others.<\/p>\n

Van Houten has defended his decision not to prosecute, maintaining that a sworn statement by the woman prepared by police didn\u2019t include the woman’s allegations that she was drugged against her will, incapacitated beyond the ability to consent and forced into sex<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The Chi Phi fraternity house at Cornell University in Ithaca, NY. (Source: Associated Press)<\/p>\n

The case’s impact extends beyond Cornell<\/p>\n

The case has roiled the Ivy League school and raised questions about its response and the larger issue of how sexual assaults are handled on college campuses.<\/p>\n

The woman, identified only as Jane Doe in court documents, told campus police in November of 2024 that she was sexually assaulted, then discussed it with the university\u2019s internal investigators as part of Cornell\u2019s disciplinary process.<\/p>\n

Her lawsuit alleges that she was plied with drugs and alcohol, then subjected to sexual acts by a group of men while she was partially or entirely incapacitated. One of the men sent a social media message to other fraternity members alerting them to what was happening and inviting people to take part, according to the lawsuit.<\/p>\n

Lawyers for two of the men she is suing have denied they participated in a sexual assault. One said his client didn’t touch the woman. Attempts to reach the other men or their representatives for comment have been unsuccessful.<\/p>\n

Hochul backs change to the state’s sexual assault law<\/p>\n

Hochul also threw her support behind proposals to change an element of New York law that has long made it more difficult to prosecute people who have engaged in sex with someone who voluntarily became intoxicated to the point where their ability to consent was compromised.<\/p>\n

Under the law, rape charges generally need to involve force or a clear refusal of sex, unless the victim is physically helpless due to being unconscious, or mentally incapacitated due to being drugged without their consent. New York is one of 19 states with such laws.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf someone is too intoxicated to consent, it should not matter whether they chose to use drugs or alcohol. Voluntary intoxication is not a license for sexual assault or gang rape, period,\u201d the governor said.<\/p>\n

\"Where<\/p>\n

Where to get help for sexual violence. (Source: 1News)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The woman who accused members of a Cornell University fraternity of gang rape was \u201cfailed\u201d by people obligated…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":619585,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[67,42,43,64,40,38,41,39],"class_list":["post-619584","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-crime-and-justice","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-north-america","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/619584","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=619584"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/619584\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/619585"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=619584"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=619584"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=619584"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}