One of the former Cornell University fraternity brothers accused of gang raping a student in 2024 claimed during the school’s investigation that he was the one sexually assaulted.
A lawsuit filed in New York State Superior Court on September 16 by the student, identified as “Jane Doe,” alleged that seven Chi Phi brothers had pressured her into snorting “a drug she had never done before,” ketamine, and also gave her marijuana and alcohol before raping her at the fraternity’s house on October 19, 2024.
According to school records obtained by ABC News, Cornell investigators started probing whether the Chi Phi brothers had taken efforts to cover up the alleged assault after an anonymous person reported to university police that fraternity leadership asked a possible witness to keep quiet.
The tip reportedly came a day after the university sent an alert to students about the alleged gang rape.
One of the former fraternity members named in Jane Doe’s lawsuit, Matthew Ingalls, who’s accused of inviting Doe to the Chi Phi house before allegedly raping her with other frat brothers, told Cornell’s Title IX investigator that he was too intoxicated and couldn’t consent that night, according to records obtained by ABC News. He accused Doe of sexually assaulting him.
In a February 2025 email to the investigator, Ingalls reportedly wrote: “After all, you received information that I was sodomized by her while I was incapacitated back in November, and you never once thought to alert me of my rights under these procedures as a survivor of this assault?”
“The very fact that I had to bring this to your attention now in February confirms my worst fears: that this process is rolled [sic] with gender discrimination,” Ingalls’ email, reviewed by ABC News, continued.
Doe’s attorney, Thomas Guiffra, didn’t immediately return a request for comment from Us.
Ingalls and the six other fraternity members accused of participating in the October 2024 gang rape have denied Doe’s allegations, the outlet reported.
The case has garnered widespread attention and resulted in New York Gov. Kathy Hochul appointing state Attorney General Letitia James to launch a criminal investigation following the filing of Doe’s lawsuit.
Ingalls and another defendant in the lawsuit, Jonathan Newell, were ultimately expelled from Cornell, per the Cornell Daily Sun. Two others received suspensions and disciplinary probations, another was issued a persona non grata, while two others were ordered not to contact Doe and had to write “reflection papers,” the independent student newspaper reported.
Cornell University president Michael Kotlikoff said in a video statement on October 3 that the alleged gang rape is “deeply disturbing.”
“My heart aches when I think of what she experienced,” Kotlikoff said, adding that it “raises heartbreaking and troubling issues about sexual assault, dehumanization and aspects of party culture, alcohol and drug use.”
“It also raises questions around the investigation conducted after the allegations were reported,” Kotlikoff said.
Criminal charges haven’t been filed against Ingalls or the other accused fraternity members.
If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).
