‘Leave out the extra 5 billion men’: Report reveals texts between victim, accused in Cornell sex assault case
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.
The woman claimed she had been sexually assaulted at the fraternity house in October 2024 after being pressured into taking ketamine, smoking marijuana and drinking alcohol. (AP Photo)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.
Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten had said on Monday that his office would present evidence to a grand jury, even as he faces questions regarding why there were no criminal prosecutions in the case.
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.
The messages, exchanged two days after the alleged incident, reportedly show that the man apologised for “how things went down”, while adding that his memory was “fuzzy.” He said another man and him felt bad for being too intoxicated to “shut it down and kick people out before it got way out of hand”, CBS News reported.
In response, the woman said her memory was “super clouded” too, and said none of the “stuff was illegal”, adding that she had liked being with him and the other man, according to CBS News. She further suggested they smoke together again, but asked the accused to “leave out the extra 5 billion men.”
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 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.
He said that the victim may not have taken an aggressive tone 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. 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.
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.
The woman has sued the Chi Phi fraternity, the university, an Ithaca bar and others, seeking undisclosed damages. The woman had allegedly gone to the campus police at the time of the incident, but prosecutor Van Houten said she had not made any claims of being gang-raped or drugged in her initial statements to the authorities.
“I have been asked by the community to revisit the decision whether to pursue criminal charges against the seven fraternity members. I have already begun that process, starting with our conversation with the woman and her attorneys,” Van Houten said.
Meanwhile, one of the accused Cornell students has lost his job at Wells Fargo, TMZ reported.
The university, in a statement, said it supports the decision to reopen the investigation, while saying that the school had conducted its own investigation and issued sanctions. Cornell said this included the expulsion of some students and suspension of others, AP reported.
It also said the on-campus Chi Phi chapter was closed in 2024 and remains barred from campus. “Any suggestion that the university did not impose consequential punishments for those involved is false,” the university said. “A continuation of the false narrative that there were minimal consequences in this case is irresponsible, will make survivors feel less safe and supported, and will perpetuate the underreporting of sexual assault,” Cornell added in its statement.
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