Seven Cornell fraternity members accused of drugging and sexually assaulting a fellow student told university investigators that she appeared willing to take part, according to investigative files.
The men gave differing accounts of the alleged encounter, including claims that the woman, identified as Jane Doe, said: “We’re all consenting adults here.” One of the accused also said she referred to group sex as being “normal in the medieval times”.
Diego Sarabia told investigators that Ms Doe had made a comment to that effect. Matthew Ingalls said he asked her whether she wanted a threesome with him and fellow fraternity member Jonathan Newell.
Newell said he assumed Ingalls had obtained permission before inviting him to join. He also said that he and Ingalls had taken ketamine and marijuana and had been drinking heavily.
Winston Lee told investigators that Ms Doe and those around her were not slurring their speech and appeared normal. He later said she had initiated sexual contact without his prior permission.
Lee said he had snorted a line of ketamine from Ms Doe’s body. He claimed that, after stepping back from the alleged encounter, he asked for her consent and received the response: “We’re all consenting adults here.”
Gillio Lopes said he had a “pretty solid recollection” of the night despite drinking three beers and three mixed drinks. He claimed Ms Doe initiated sexual contact with him, but said he left after feeling “uncomfortable” at about 2am.
Scott Kretzschmar, whose lawyer has said he did not take part in sexual activity that night, told investigators he entered the room after seeing a “free p***y” message in a Snapchat group chat.
Kretzschmar said Ms Doe did not appear intoxicated and that he and others had gone in to check whether she was safe. “And if she wasn’t, I’d like to think that I would have helped out and did something about it,” he said.
Scott Norris said Ms Doe was “conversational with people” when he entered the room. She had previously described Kretzschmar and Norris to police as being “more like voyeurs than anything”.
