Chi Phi Brothers Defend Consent Claims in Cornell Rape Case

Cornell University police interviewed members of the Chi Phi fraternity in the weeks following an alleged October 2024 gang rape at the fraternity house, and newly surfaced video shows the brothers telling investigators they had heard the encounters were consensual, according to footage obtained by ABC News and reported by TMZ.com.

The case centers on allegations that seven Chi Phi brothers drugged and gang-raped a fellow Cornell student in 2024. The woman is identified in the litigation as Jane Doe.

In the police interviews, two fraternity members maintained they were inside the house on the night in question but did not participate in any sexual activity with Jane Doe. One of the brothers told an officer, "What people were saying was that there was like multiple consenting adults in this room," while another stated, "The general rumor that was going around was that it was a ... consensual thing."

The officers did not accept the explanations at face value. One investigator pressed the brother for the names of the fraternity members allegedly involved, warning, "I just get worried because you know how it looks. You're a brother." A second investigator questioned how the brothers could be certain the encounters were consensual, noting that "consensual" is not a term most college students use in ordinary conversation.

One fraternity member was unable to recall precisely what he had been told, but said he believed the men had described having sex with Jane Doe.

The criminal case has attracted national scrutiny because no arrests or charges were filed against any of the fraternity brothers during the original 2024 investigation by police and prosecutors. That outcome led Jane Doe to pursue a civil lawsuit against the seven defendants.

In response to the lack of criminal action, New York Governor Kathy Hochul has appointed New York Attorney General Letitia James to oversee a new criminal investigation into the events of that night.