A civil lawsuit alleges that a member of a Cornell University fraternity sent a Snapchat message inviting other students upstairs while a woman was unconscious, according to a complaint filed by the woman identified as “Jane Doe”.
The message, posted in a group chat called “Chi Phi Actives” on Snapchat, reportedly said there was “free p***y”. Other members allegedly replied, with one accused of writing: “Like you can walk in and whip it out.”
Alleged assault at Cornell fraternity house
The woman alleges she was pressured into taking ketamine before being gang raped by seven members of Cornell's Chi Phi fraternity in October 2024. The alleged assault lasted for hours, the lawsuit says.
In the 101-page complaint filed in Manhattan Supreme Court on September 14, she says she was 20 when she visited the fraternity house after drinking at a local bar. The suit names Matthew Ingalls, Jonathan Newell, Winston Lee, Gillio Lopes, Diego Sarabia, Scott Norris and Scott Kretzschmar as defendants.
Investigation and university response
The complaint alleges Ingalls and Newell pressured her into snorting the drug ketamine before sexually assaulting her. It claims other fraternity members joined the alleged assault after the Snapchat message was sent.
The alleged assault was reportedly reported to Cornell and to the police about a week later, according to the lawsuit. The Tompkins County District Attorney’s office told the New York Post that its criminal investigation did not result in charges against the seven men.
University statement and legal response
The allegations have received fresh attention after CBS News reporter Lilia Luciano called them “some of the most disturbing allegations that I’ve heard in a long time coming from a university”, as per News.Au.
In a statement, Cornell said it was aware of the lawsuit concerning “deeply disturbing allegations of sexual assault involving members of the student community” in 2024. It said its civil rights and student conduct offices investigated the allegations under university policies and that the Chi Phi chapter “remains barred from our campus”.
“We take sexual violence extremely seriously,” the university said in a statement, adding that they would be responding to the lawsuit in detail through the legal process. Lawyers for Kretzschmar have strongly denied the allegations against him, saying they have evidence that the claims are false.
