The governor of New York has appointed a special prosecutor to investigate the alleged rape of a woman at Cornell University.
Gov. Kathy Hochul said that the woman was gang raped and “failed” by those who were supposed to protect her, The Associated Press reported.
“In what world does the district attorney not even interview her, or anyone else involved, or even request the full transcript?” Hochul said on Friday. “This 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.”
She also said the school’s police department should have given the woman’s claims to prosecutors.
“After 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 governor said, according to the AP. “Yet, shockingly, those words never made it into the account that the Cornell police sent to prosecutors.”
The woman, identified only as Jane Doe, said she told Cornell University police that she was sexually assaulted. She also told the school’s internal investigators as part of the university’s disciplinary process, the AP said.
The school conducted more than 50 interviews with 32 witnesses as part of that process, The Washington Post reported.
The case had been closed in 2024 and no charges were filed.
Cornell, however, did issue several punishments, including suspensions and expulsions. The fraternity’s Cornell chapter was closed in 2024 and banned from campus, the Post said.
One fraternity member is trying to overturn the disciplinary action in court and clear his academic record, according to the newspaper.
CNN reported that the Tompkins County District Attorney’s office said the initial statement that Cornell police gave did not constitute a crime.
The woman gave a more explicit accusation of rape during an interview with Cornell police, which was documented in a transcript, WCBS reported. The district attorney said his office never received that document.
The woman filed a lawsuit last month and the investigation into the alleged incident was reopened by Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten.
She is suing seven fraternity brothers, the Chi Phi fraternity, the university, and others.
She said in the lawsuit that she was given alcohol and drugs and was subjected to sexual acts by several men while either partially or fully incapacitated.
One man, according to the lawsuit, posted on social media about what allegedly was happening and invited others.
The lawyers for two of the men she is suing said their clients did not participate in the alleged assault.
Four of the men accused said they had sex with the woman but that it was consensual, The New York Times reported.
The governor said that Attorney General Letitia James now has the case as a special prosecutor. James said that the case is now “an active criminal investigation,” CNN reported.
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