Cornell University rape case reopens, DA said Jane Doe described sex as consensual, then said he had never seen transcript in which she said “I was raped”

The reopening of a 2024 alleged gang-rape case at Cornell University has raised a new question about what prosecutors were told when they initially declined to bring charges. Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten previously said Jane Doe’s sworn statement to Cornell police described her drug use and sexual activity as “voluntary, conscious, and consensual.” But a newly obtained transcript of her campus-police interview shows Doe saying, “I can say with 100% confidence I was raped.”

Van Houten has since told CBS News he had never seen the full interview transcript and said, “I never saw it, never heard it until tonight.”

What the Cornell fraternity case alleges

Doe, who was 20 at the time, has sued Cornell University and seven former Chi Phi fraternity members over an alleged assault at the fraternity house in October 2024. According to the lawsuit, she had been drinking and was pressured into consuming drugs before becoming incapacitated, after which multiple men allegedly sexually assaulted her.

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The civil complaint says the alleged assaults continued for several hours. It also includes texts from a Chi Phi Snapchat group chat in which fraternity members appeared to discuss a woman upstairs. CBS New York reported that at 1:42 a.m., a message suggested a woman was available for sex, while a later message asked, “Shop still open?” and received the response, “Yea.”

The allegations have not been established in criminal court, and the men named in the lawsuit have not been convicted of crimes.

The statement that shaped the original decision

Van Houten's explanation for the original decision not to prosecute centered on what Doe told Cornell police in 2024. In a statement announcing the renewed investigation, he said her sworn statement “did not allege that she was drugged against her will or gang raped” and instead “described her participation in drug use and sexual conduct as voluntary, conscious, and consensual.” Reuters reported.

Also Read: Cornell University alleged 'gang rape' case: Why charges weren't filed by Tompkins County DA in 2024 - and what changed now

But CBS New York has now reported a transcript of Doe's Nov. 14-15, 2024 interview with Cornell police that presents additional language from the interview.

Transcript adds a crucial distinction

According to CBS News, Doe described being extremely intoxicated and having gaps in her memory. When asked about being okay with the initial sexual activity earlier in the night, she said, “Yeah, as much as I can be because, again, I was super drunk when I got there ... But I was pretty OK with all of this.”

She then distinguished those events from what she said happened later.

“When describing what happened later in the night,” CBS reported, the transcript records Doe saying: “I can say with 100% confidence I was raped.”

The interview continued the following day, and CBS said the transcript shows Doe reviewed a revised six-page statement before signing it. She reportedly told those present, “I'm very confident about this.” CBS New York has not seen the final six-page statement itself.

DA says he had not seen the transcript

Van Houten told CBS News that he was never provided the full transcripts of Doe's original interviews with Cornell police.

“I never saw it, never heard it until tonight,” he said after CBS presented the transcript. He added that if the transcript exists and accurately records Doe's statement, “it needs to be fully investigated by someone outside of Cornell.”

The prosecutor's office has now reopened the criminal investigation and plans to present evidence to a grand jury.