Bethel Man Named In Cornell Sexual Assault Lawsuit

BETHEL, CT — A Bethel man has been named as one of seven current and former Cornell University students accused of sexually assaulting a female student in 2024, according to court documents.

The Bethel resident and six other members of the Chi Phi fraternity were listed as defendants in a New York civil lawsuit stemming from the 2024 accusations, and prosecutors have since reopened a criminal investigation.

The New York State Courts Electronic Filing System shows the man was served on Sept. 23 at his Bethel home.

Jane Doe, who was 20 and a Cornell student at the time of the incident, accused the seven men of sexually assaulting and raping her from the night of Oct. 19 into the morning of Oct. 20, 2024.

Doe attended a social event at an Ithaca nightclub and went to the Chi Phi fraternity house to meet her friend, one of the seven defendants. The complaint says she was visibly intoxicated, and her friend proposed a threesome and pressured Doe to use ketamine, marijuana and additional alcohol.

The complaint says Doe's friend and another defendant initiated sexual activity, which it claims she was too intoxicated to consent to.

The second defendant then sent a message to the fraternity's Snapchat group inviting other members upstairs to engage in sexual activity with Doe, according to the lawsuit. Other fraternity members, including the Bethel resident, subsequently entered the room.

The lawsuit says the Bethel man forcibly kissed Doe while she attempted to pull away. He later joined the group in snorting ketamine off her body, according to the filing.

Doe reported the incident to Cornell University Police in November 2024, but no criminal charges were filed at the time.

Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten said in a statement that prosecutors reviewed Doe's original statement to university police and decided the facts described did not support criminal charges at the time.

"Jane Doe's sworn statement did not allege that she was drugged against her will or gang raped," Van Houten said. "On the contrary, Jane Doe's statement described her participation in drug use and sexual conduct as voluntary, conscious and consensual."

Prosecutors reopened the investigation after learning of the civil lawsuit and speaking with Doe and her attorneys.

“Seeking justice sometimes requires us to reconsider or reopen cases when we are provided with additional evidence,” Van Houten said.

Van Houten said a senior prosecutor with experience handling sex crimes has been assigned to prepare the case for presentation to a Tompkins County grand jury. The grand jury will be able to consider Doe's testimony and new evidence raised in the civil complaint.

Cornell said it conducted a Title IX investigation in the months following Doe's report, which resulted in a range of sanctions that included expulsions and suspensions, but did not specify which students received punishments.

Doe's attorney, Thomas Giuffra, told CBS News that two of the seven men were expelled, while the other five received lesser sanctions, including suspensions, workshops and writing assignments.

Cornell pushed back on reports about the writing assignments, saying none of the students faced writing essays as their sole consequence.

“Cornell supports the District Attorney’s decision to allow the victim’s story to be heard by a criminal grand jury,” university spokesperson Kyle Kimball said in a Sept. 28 statement.

Cornell said the Chi Phi chapter was closed in 2024 and remains barred from campus.

No criminal charges have been filed against the men as of Tuesday.