Newly-unearthed Cornell video shows two fraternity brothers who weren’t named in Jane Doe lawsuit telling investigators that alleged gang rape was consensual
Two Chi Phi fraternity members told investigators that the alleged Cornell gang rape was consensual, newly unearthed video shows.
The alleged victim, identified in court documents only as Jane Doe, filed a lawsuit last month alleging she was sexually assaulted by multiple male students two years ago after being pressured into drinking alcohol and taking drugs.
But two brothers, who are not among the accused so their faces have been obscured and names withheld, told police the alleged sexual activity occurred between ‘consenting adults.’
In a taped interview obtained by ABC News, one brother said: ‘What people were saying was that there was like multiple consenting adults in this room.’
‘There was consensual act that took place,’ a second brother echoed.
The investigating officer pushed back, asking the men how they knew that the people involved had consenting to sexual activity.
‘Dude, I was a college kid. I get it. In college I wouldn’t have been like, ‘oh, that was a sick consensual act last night.’ Right? I guess how did they know it was consensual?’ the officer said.
‘I mean, I can’t recall exactly what was said, but, yeah, I mean, they – they said that they had sex with her, I guess,’ the second brother added.
In a taped interview obtained by ABC News, one brother said: ‘What people were saying was that there was like multiple consenting adults in this room’
‘There was consensual act that took place,’ a second brother echoed, as shown in the footage. ‘I mean, I can’t recall exactly what was said, but, yeah, I mean, they – they said that they had sex with her, I guess’
The alleged victim, identified in court documents only as Jane Doe, filed a lawsuit last month alleging she was sexually assaulted by multiple Chi Phi members two years ago after being pressured into drinking alcohol and taking drugs
Doe claimed that she was gang raped at the now defunct Chi Phi fraternity house on October 19, 2024 by Umar Matthew Ingalls, Jonathan Newell, Winston Lee, Gillio Lopes, Diego Sarabia, Scott Noris and Scott Kretzschmar, according to a civil lawsuit filed in September.
The alleged victim claimed that the seven men engaged in sexual acts with her while she was ‘completely incapacitated’ and without her consent. She says the ordeal continued until around 5.45am, when she lost consciousness.
She’s also alleged that the men manipulated her into ingesting ketamine and alcohol that night, per the filing. The men have have all either denied the accusations or said that the sex that took place was consensual.
Doe, then a 20-year-old sophomore, reported the alleged assault to Cornell police in November 2024, three weeks after she said it occurred.
Campus police investigated and sent a summary of their findings to the district attorney’s office, which relied on the information in deciding not to bring criminal charges. Separately, Cornell conducted a Title IX investigation.
No criminal charges have been filed. The Chi Phi chapter was shut down, and the university has said it expelled some students and suspended others.
Ingalls, however, later claimed he was the one who was sexually assaulted, arguing that he was too intoxicated to consent to any sexual intercourse.
In an email to Cornell’s Title IX investigator in February 2025, Ingalls even accused the school of ‘entrapment’ and suggested he would file his own complaint against Doe.
Jane Doe claimed that she was gang raped on October 19, 2024 after Umar Matthew Ingalls invited her to a party at the Chi Phi fraternity house
The accuser’s lawsuit included alleged messages on Snapchat of Chi Phi fraternity members apparently discussing the incident and advertising ‘free p***y’
Ingalls was expelled from the school along with Newell, who engaged in a threesome with Jane Doe and Ingalls and allegedly struck the victim.
Suspensions and disciplinary probation orders were also handed down to Lee and Lopes, according to records obtained by The New York Times.
Both men were also ordered not to contact the alleged victim, and were required to study sexual harassment and write reflection papers.
Meanwhile, Sarabia was barred from campus for three years. He had already graduated from the school by the time of the disciplinary panel’s ruling in March 2025.
The other two men, Norris and Kretzschmar, were ordered not to contact Jane Doe, to study sexual harassment, social media use and bystander intervention and to write ‘reflection papers.’
They were not part of the alleged attack, but were accused of entering the room after Newell allegedly posted in a fraternity Snapchat group that there was ‘free p***y’ upstairs.
None of the men involved in the alleged assault were ever charged with any wrongdoing, as Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten concluded there was a lack of evidence based on Jane Doe’s statement to police at the time.
His office has since reopened the case, and New York Governor Kathy Hochul has appointed Attorney General Letitia James as a special prosecutor.
Footage obtained by ABC News shows the room where the alleged gang rape is said to have occurred. Doe claimed that the seven men engaged in sexual acts with her while she was ‘completely incapacitated’ and without her consent
Meanwhile, officials at Cornell University announced Tuesday they have hired former Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates to review the school’s handling of the case and its broader sexual assault policies.
The probe will cover Cornell’s ‘policies, practices and resources across the full range of prevention and response,’ university officials said.
That includes examining how reports are received and investigated, how hearings and disciplinary decisions are handled, as well as the role and response of campus police and its coordination with other law enforcement agencies and prosecutors and even oversight of fraternities and sororities on campus.
