One of seven Cornell fraternity members accused of gang-raping a fellow student allegedly telephoned a sorority member and asked her to ensure her friend did not discuss what she believed had happened at a party.
The sorority member, who had been at the Chi Phi house on the night of the alleged sexual assault, told investigators that the accused man called her the following day. She said he asked her to make sure her friend did not “say anything that she thinks might’ve happened last night”.
She passed on the message. Her friend later told investigators that it “clicked” when Cornell University sent an alert email about a sexual assault.
“It makes a lot more sense,” the friend said, describing the message as “very concerning”. She and her roommate subsequently spoke to Cornell University Police, although she said she did not know what became of her statement.
The accused man initially denied making the call during an interview with investigators. In a written correction a month later, however, he acknowledged the conversation and said it had been about “not spreading any rumors”.
During his initial interview, he also said the fraternity’s approach to the rumours was “just deny”.
The allegations are part of a case involving seven Cornell fraternity brothers. Tompkins District Attorney Matt Van Houten initially declined to bring charges, saying Cornell had provided him only with the alleged victim’s sworn statement and messages from a Snapchat group chat.
He later reopened the case and said he intended to present evidence to a grand jury.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul has since appointed the office of Attorney General Letitia James to handle the case, saying she lacked confidence in the Tompkins district attorney.
