Cornell University police prepared requests seeking phone records in connection with an alleged gang-rape case, but it is unclear whether prosecutors ever received them, according to a new report.
Documents obtained by CNN show that Cornell police drafted letters to Verizon and T-Mobile roughly a week after a female student, identified as Jane Doe, reported that she had allegedly been sexually assaulted at the Chi Phi fraternity house in 2024.
Dated November 15, 2024, the letters said the department was “investigating a sexual assault incident” and believed the listed account or phone number “may contain evidence pertinent to the ongoing investigation,” CNN reported.
Investigators also said they would provide a signed warrant within 30 days and asked the companies to preserve all available data tied to the accounts, including text messages, emails, call records, photos and video messages, according to the report.
However, it remains unknown whether the letters were ever sent to Verizon or T-Mobile, or whether Cornell police later sought subpoenas for the information.
It is likewise unclear whether Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten was informed about the department’s records request.
Van Houten initially reviewed the sexual assault allegation but declined to bring charges against the men accused. His office has since reopened the investigation.
Jane Doe’s attorney told CNN that his client recorded several conversations with men connected to the case, which has drawn national attention since she filed a lawsuit last month against them, Cornell University and other parties.
Cornell University police drafted letters to Verizon and T-Mobile about a week after a female student, identified as Jane Doe, reported an alleged sexual assault at the Chi Phi fraternity house, pictured, in 2024, according to documents obtained by CNN
Protests have spread across the campus following the lawsuit Jane Doe filed last month
Some of the communications between Doe and the men have since emerged, including a call she shared with Matthew Ingalls.
Doe said Ingalls invited her to the fraternity house on October 19, 2024, before allegedly drugging and raping her. He was later expelled from Cornell.
During the university police investigation, Ingalls reportedly told investigators that he had been too intoxicated to consent to sexual activity, according to records obtained by ABC News.
He also suggested that Doe might have assaulted him.
But in a call recorded by Cornell police, Ingalls appeared to tell Doe: “You did tell me you were sober, by the way.”
The recording reflected conflicting accounts of the alleged assault. Doe told Ingalls he “already knew I was 10 shots deep” when he and six other men allegedly sexually assaulted her.
“If I wanted to take this somewhere, what y’all did would be classified as gang rape,” she told him in one message.
Doe also said she had gone to the emergency room and attended therapy after the alleged assault because there had been “so much damage on my body and my brain.”
Photos showed activists breaking windows and defacing buildings with red-painted messages criticizing patriarchy and the Ivy League university’s handling of sexual assault allegations
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Ingalls denied wrongdoing during the call, saying Doe had persuaded him that she was not intoxicated and “hadn’t been anywhere” that night. Doe disputed his account.
The recording also captured Doe asking Ingalls to explain what happened, including how they ended up in a threesome at the fraternity house.
“So, you come in, say hi, and we start dancing for maybe like three to five minutes… And then I pop the question, you say yes,” Ingalls replied.
He said they “didn’t know who else to bring” into the encounter, so he approached another man on the dance floor who agreed to join them, after which “we go upstairs.”
The other man was identified as Jonathan Newell. According to the lawsuit reviewed by Our News Outlet, Newell allegedly sent a Snapchat message to a group chat containing more than 50 fraternity members that night reading “Free p****,” in reference to Doe.
Newell was also expelled from the university.
According to the court filing, Doe told investigators that five additional men engaged in sexual acts with her while she was incapacitated and unable to consent.
Winston Lee, another fraternity member named in the lawsuit, was suspended for two years and placed on disciplinary probation for several semesters after returning to campus, according to disciplinary summaries reviewed by The New York Times.
Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten initially reviewed the sexual assault allegation and declined to charge the men accused
Gillio Lopes received a three-semester suspension followed by two years of probation. Both men were also required to write essays and complete coursework on sexual harassment, the summaries said.
Doe has separately accused Diego Sarabia of forcibly kissing her that night, according to the lawsuit.
Sarabia was barred from campus for three years. After he graduated, the university issued a persona non grata order against him, the outlet reported.
Scott Norris and Scott Kretzschmar, the two remaining men named in the case, were prohibited from contacting Doe. They were also required to write essays and complete training on sexual harassment, social media use and bystander intervention following the university’s investigation two years ago.
Cornell has since banned the fraternity chapter from campus.
Protests have continued across the university since the allegations became public in September.
Photos showed activists breaking windows and spray-painting buildings with red messages denouncing patriarchy and criticizing Cornell’s response to sexual assault allegations on Monday.
A Cornell spokesperson told Our News Outlet, “We do not have anything further to say due to the active investigation.”
The Daily Mail also sought comment from Cornell University Police, the Tompkins County District Attorney’s Office, Verizon and T-Mobile.
