Cornell rape probe draws expert criticism

N’dea Yancey-Bragg

USA TODAY

Cornell University, campus police and the local prosecutor’s office are all facing intense scrutiny over their investigation into 2024 gang rape allegations, and experts say key changes early in the case could have had a big impact on the investigation.

Sexual assault cases require thorough, trauma-informed investigations, and there are several instances in which police and prosecutors in the Cornell case appeared to fall short of that high bar, said Deborah Tuerkheimer, author of the book 'Credible: Why We Doubt Accusers and Protect Abusers.'

'There’s fault to go around,' said Tuerkheimer, a law professor at Northwestern University.

The failure to loop in local law enforcement at the outset, the breakdown in information-sharing between police and prosecutors and the level of discipline imposed on the accused men have all come under fire as experts say similar issues plague sexual assault investigations across the country.

'This is a somewhat extraordinary case in many ways, but in other ways it’s depressingly ordinary,' Tuerkheimer said. 'A failure to thoroughly investigate allegations is something we see across the nation every day.'

The allegations resurfaced in September after a woman anonymously referred to as Jane Doe filed a civil lawsuit. It alleges she was gang-raped on Oct. 19, 2024, by members of Cornell’s Chi Phi fraternity in Ithaca, New York, while being too intoxicated to consent and after being pressured into taking ketamine.

The lawsuit names seven then-members of the fraternity, the university, the fraternity and others. No criminal charges were filed and all seven fraternity members denied the allegations during the university’s investigation.

The missteps began days after the alleged assault when Doe went to Cornell Health and reported she had contracted a urinary tract infection in a 'traumatic way,' according to her attorney Thomas P. Giuffra. Giuffra could not immediately be reached for comment by USA TODAY, but told CNN a health care professional advised Doe to 'speak with somebody' but failed to give her a sexual assault examination, known as a rape kit.

Doe later reported the alleged assault to Cornell police on Nov. 8, 2024.

Ideally, Tuerkheimer said, after the report of a serious crime like this, the law enforcement agency leading the criminal investigation would coordinate closely with the school as it conducts its parallel Title IX investigation. She said the lead agency should be whichever department has the most expertise and training in investigating sex crimes, which is 'typically, but not always, the local police department,' not campus police.

The Ithaca Police Department said in a Sept. 28 statement that the incident was not reported to the department and it 'learned of these allegations recently through the media.'

The university declined to comment, citing the ongoing investigation, but pointed to a statement that said the crime allegedly occurred within its jurisdiction, and thus it was 'established protocol' for campus police to investigate. But Ithaca Mayor Robert G. Cantelmo told CNN the university 'unequivocally' should have brought in local police on this case and demanded a 'commitment in writing that they will turn these cases over to appropriate law enforcement agencies in the future.'

'The university police are no substitute for a professional law enforcement agency that does not have dual loyalties,' Cantelmo told the outlet.

Cantelmo has also criticized the university for failing to discipline the alleged perpetrators.

The university has said its months-long Title IX investigation, which is separate from the criminal investigation, resulted in 'a range of sanctions, which included expulsions and suspensions from Cornell' and the closure of the fraternity chapter.

Giuffra told CNN he doesn’t believe the details from the Title IX investigation were turned over to campus police. 'What is contained in the proceedings is evidence of several crimes being committed with excellent supporting evidence,' he told the outlet.

Prosecutors are also facing scrutiny for deciding to not pursue charges in 2024 without taking several key investigative steps, a decision Fara Gold, a former federal and state sex crimes prosecutor, called 'baffling,' 'confounding' and 'upsetting.'

One point that particularly surprised Gold: Prosecutors haven’t confirmed they interviewed the victim.

'Prosecutors must meet with victims,' Gold said. 'To me that is like 101 when you’re talking about a sexual assault investigation.'

The Tompkins County District Attorney’s Office statement says it offered to meet with Jane Doe.

District Attorney Matthew Van Houten said in a Sept. 28 statement that he based his charging decision largely on a six-page statement Doe provided to campus police, which 'did not allege that she was drugged against her will or gang raped.'

Van Houten did not immediately respond to a request for comment from USA TODAY, but told CBS he never received the complete transcript of Doe’s interview with law enforcement on Nov. 14 and Nov. 15, 2024, in which she expressed '100% confidence I was raped.'

On Nov. 25, 2024, a Cornell police investigator informed the district attorney’s office that the department had conducted additional interviews, but prosecutors declined to review the evidence because they had already decided not to pursue criminal charges, The New York Times reported. Van Houten told the outlet the additional interviews were 'not pertinent to our analysis because we had Jane Doe’s comprehensive account of the events.'

Before making a decision on criminal charges, prosecutors should have obtained the full transcript and recording of the interview, according to Gold, now senior counsel of strategic advocacy at Edwards Henderson – The Crime Victim Law Firm.

Gold said it is 'unfathomable' that prosecutors declined to review more evidence that was offered to them. She also disputed the idea that prosecutors don’t conduct their own investigations, saying there are a 'host of investigative steps' that can be taken.

Contributing: Karissa Waddick, USA TODAY

Cornell University, campus police and the Tompkins County District Attorney’s Office are all facing pressure over the issues surrounding the investigation into an Oct. 19, 2024, gang rape allegation.

Lauren Petracca/Reuters