New York Governor Kathy Hochul has said the woman at the centre of the Cornell University rape case was “failed” at “every turn”.
The woman, known as Jane Doe in legal documents, alleges she was drugged and raped by several men at a fraternity house in 2024.
The case was investigated at the time but no charges were laid. It recently reopened after the woman filed a civil lawsuit last month that thrust the allegations into the national spotlight.
At a news conference on Friday, Hochul said she was “deeply disturbed” by how the investigation was handled. She has now appointed New York Attorney General Letitia James to lead the case.
Expressing outrage that local prosecutors did not interview the accuser themselves, Hochul on Friday said: “This young woman had already endured something that is utterly unspeakable, and then at every turn she was failed by people and institutions with an obligation to protect her.”
She has also vowed to close a “loophole” that prevents prosecutors from pursuing rape charges in cases when the victim has voluntarily consumed drugs or alcohol. Jane Doe is believed to have voluntarily taken drugs and alcohol on the night of the alleged gang rape.
“If someone is too intoxicated to consent it should not matter if they chose to use drugs or alcohol,” said Hochul, adding: “Voluntary intoxication is not a licence for gang rape.”
James, who is the state’s chief legal officer, appeared alongside Hochul at Friday’s news conference, pledging to “lead a process guided by the facts and the law”.
She said her office would interview witnesses and pursue prosecutions if warranted.
District Attorney Matthew Van Houten, who previously led the investigation, has defended his office’s previous decision not to file charges in the case, arguing they were not given enough evidence to meet the legal threshold.
Van Houten said much of the information released in recent weeks about the case was not passed to his office.
Cornell has said it provided evidence to the district attorney’s office from its own investigation, including a Snapchat group chat in which fraternity members discussed a “free” sexual encounter with Doe on the night of the alleged assault.
Jane Doe filed a civil lawsuit against the Ivy League university in September.
Speaking to CNN on Friday, her lawyer Thomas Giuffra said she is “not doing well”.
“She’s under siege on social media, where people are trying to identify her; some false court postings, attempting to identify her,” he said.
Survivor and victim advocates say current state law on sexual assault makes it difficult for charges to be brought against perpetrators if the victim voluntarily took drugs or drank alcohol before the alleged assault took place.
A bill to address what Hochul described as a legal loophole was already making its way through the state legislature prior to this week’s public outcry over how police and investigators handled the Cornell rape allegations.
“If a person goes out with friends and voluntarily consumes alcohol or drugs and becomes intoxicated so they’re unable to say no and they’re sexually assaulted, that scenario is not covered by the current law,” Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark said this week, according to CBS, the BBC’s US partner.
Hochul said she will support the existing bill and that it could move forward as early as the next legislative session which reconvenes in January. As governor, she could also call lawmakers back for a special session before then.
