Hours after the probe into an alleged gang-rape incident at the Cornell University in New York was reopened, a report suggested that the victim and one of the accused had shared text messages a couple of days after the incident.
Screenshots of the text messages were reportedly received by CBS News, with a source saying they show texts between the former student and one of the defendants in the lawsuit. A woman, a former student of Cornell, has filed a lawsuit saying she was sexually assaulted inside the Chi Phi fraternity house in 2024 by seven students after being plied with alcohol and drugs, according to the Associated Press.
What has the victim alleged?
Giuffra said the woman was in denial and was traumatised following the alleged incident, adding that she was intoxicated to the point of incapacity and was trying to find out what had happened, CBS News reported. The woman, identified only by a pseudonym in the lawsuit, filed the complaint on September 16, claiming that she had been sexually assaulted at the fraternity house on the Ivy League campus in October 2024 after being pressured into taking ketamine, smoking marijuana and drinking alcohol, according to the AP report. Because she wanted answers, and said that in his understanding, these messages had been presented during Cornell’s Title IX proceedings, with the panel recognising that the woman was in denial, he said that the victim may not have taken an aggressive tone.
The victim’s attorney, Thomas Giuffra , acknowledged the exchange of texts, but said he could not confirm whether those were the exact messages. Giuffra said the defendant’s expulsion following the incident suggests that the panel had not considered these messages to be significant, and claimed that the investigators failed to fully follow up on evidence.
