Newly released police interview footage has shown two members of Cornell University’s Chi Phi fraternity telling investigators they had heard sex involving a fellow student was consensual after an alleged gang rape in 2024.
The footage, obtained by ABC News, was recorded in the weeks after the alleged incident at the fraternity house in October 2024. Seven Chi Phi brothers were accused of drugging and sexually assaulting the student, known in the case as Jane Doe.
Both men told Cornell University police they had been at the house that night but denied having sex with Jane Doe. One said he had heard there were “multiple consenting adults in this room”.
Another told an investigator: “The general rumour that was going around was that it was a … consensual thing.”
Police questioned how the fraternity members could know the encounters had been consensual and pressed the men to identify those allegedly involved.
One officer warned: “I just get worried because you know how it looks. You’re a brother.” Another investigator questioned whether “consensual” was a term most college students would normally use in conversation.
One of the men said he could not remember exactly what he had been told, but believed the fraternity members had said they had sex with Jane Doe.
The Cornell gang rape investigation attracted national attention after police and prosecutors did not arrest or charge any of the fraternity brothers during the original 2024 inquiry. Jane Doe subsequently filed a lawsuit against seven defendants.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul has appointed state Attorney General Letitia James to lead a new criminal investigation into what happened.
