Entertainment
Frat Bros Attempted ‘Damage Control’ After Party
Alleged Cornell Gang Rape
Frat Bros Went Into ‘Damage Control’
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Some of the frat boys accused in a lawsuit of gang raping a Cornell University student went into “damage control” to try to save their reputations and futures at the Ivy League college, according to ABC News.
ABC reporters recently reviewed text messages, phone records, and other documents connected to the alleged October 2024 sexual assault of the now-former Cornell student by 7 young men at Chi Phi fraternity house.
Last month, the ex-student filed her lawsuit against the 7 frat brothers, claiming they drugged her with ketamine and then gang raped her during a night of drug and alcohol debauchery.
According to ABC … Cornell students spoke with campus officials after the alleged incident, telling them that some of the frat boys went into “damage control” to make sure that their accuser — identified as Jane Doe in the lawsuit — was “not upset about the situation.”
One of Doe’s friends reportedly told campus officials some of the men were contacting her “almost every day” after the alleged assault.
Months later, ABC says Matthew Ingalls — one of the men accused in Doe’s lawsuit — messaged the friend on Snapchat, telling her she could submit evidence that could get him and another accused man dismissed from Cornell’s investigation.
The friend later told campus investigators Ingalls had tried to convince her Doe was lying, allegedly telling her, “You know that she’s lying” … and insisting they would never do something like that.
The frat brothers were reportedly concerned that Doe was changing her story from consensual sexual encounters that night to what she characterized as a “gang rape.”
During a phone conversation, Doe told one of the frat brothers that “the only way for me to heal is to know what happened,” per a phone recording obtained by ABC.
She also said, “That’s why I’m trying to just piece it together, you know, like I’m just like confused.”
Text messages and other evidence show that Doe initially consented to a threesome with two of the frat brothers … but it turned into what she later viewed as a drug-and-alcohol-induced gang rape.
Snapchat messages between frat brothers indicate there was a woman available for sex — while encouraging them to engage with her.
Doe eventually went to the campus police and gave a statement. Cops then forwarded a six-page summary of Doe’s statement to local prosecutors, but left out her claim that she was 100 percent raped.
Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten has repeatedly defended himself, saying that he did not pursue criminal charges because Doe’s statement suggested the sex was consensual.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul has announced a new criminal investigation into the matter, replacing Van Houten with the New York State Attorney General to oversee the case.