A newly revealed police transcript shows the Cornell student who accused seven fraternity brothers of sexual assault told campus investigators she could say “with 100% confidence I was raped,” undercutting the district attorney’s explanation for why no criminal charges were filed.
The woman, identified only as Jane Doe, sat for a two-day interview with Cornell University Police on Nov. 14-15, 2024, accompanied by a Title IX investigator, a victim advocate and partly by her adviser, according to the transcript. She was 20 at the time of the alleged Oct. 19-20, 2024 attack at the Chi Phi fraternity house.
Doe described the night beginning consensually, admitting to drinking, drugs and sex that she initially agreed to. “Yeah, as much as I can be because, again, I was super drunk when I got there,” she told police. “But I was pretty OK with all of this.”
The situation deteriorated as more drugs and alcohol were offered, she said, with a threesome she started willingly turning into what she described as a revolving door of fraternity brothers entering the room to take turns having sex with her. “And then, of course, I was being hit at the same time,” Doe told police, according to the transcript. “Physically hit very, very hard.”
She recalled pushing away groping hands and telling brothers she was uncomfortable or too tired to continue. When police pressed whether she had said “no” or merely expressed fatigue, she replied, “I think it’s, ‘I’m tired.'” Asked if she eventually became so exhausted from fending them off that she allowed them to have sex with her, she responded, “Yes. It was coercion.”
Doe also told investigators she did not remember the night “where I was raped” and could not say how many people had sex with her while incapacitated. “I can say with 100% confidence I was raped,” she said, adding “I’m very confident about this” as the interview concluded.
The transcript conflicts with a separate six-page written statement Doe signed for Cornell police, in which she said the night “felt like coercion” but did not clearly state she believed she had been raped. It also directly contradicts Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten, who on Monday defended his decision not to bring charges by claiming Doe never explicitly accused the seven men of crimes.
Van Houten said his office based its no-charge decision on the sworn statement and claimed he never received the transcript. “If she had said those words, we certainly would want to have explored that more,” he said. “Like I said, that wasn’t provided to me,” He added that he has since requested the transcript after reopening an investigation into the alleged attack.
Cornell University Police told The Post that “all investigatory information” from Doe’s case was shared with the DA’s office in 2024, though the department did not specify whether that included the transcript.
The case burst into public view after Doe filed a sprawling lawsuit on Sept. 18, claiming the brothers plied her with alcohol and ketamine after what began as a consensual encounter with one member. The lawsuit alleges the situation escalated into a threesome with another brother, then multiple others coming and going to have sex with her and snort ketamine off her body.
One brother allegedly sent a message in a fraternity Snapchat group chat declaring there was “free p–sy” in one of the rooms, drawing responses including “shop still open” and “you can walk in and whip it out.”
After Doe reported the alleged assault roughly three weeks later, several brothers were suspended and two were expelled, though she claimed in her lawsuit that Cornell allowed others to “mitigate their conduct by submitting essays.” A Cornell spokesperson fired back, calling her characterization “irresponsible” and insisting the school takes sexual assault claims seriously.
Sen. Chuck Schumer has since weighed in, stating that Cornell did not act fast enough in the case.