New York governor appoints special prosecutor to oversee investigation of Cornell University gang rape allegations

New York's governor appointed a special prosecutor Thursday to oversee an investigation into a woman's allegations that she was raped at a Cornell University fraternity house, saying she had lost faith in the local district attorney's ability to handle the case.

Video above: Cornell's student assembly plans a forum on sexual violence


Gov. Kathy Hochul said she had signed an executive order appointing the office of New York Attorney General Letitia James as the special prosecutor.

 Newly released information continues to raise serious questions about the investigation conducted by the Cornell Police Department and the decision by the Tompkins County District Attorney not to prosecute an alleged sexual assault on Cornell University's campus in October 2024,  Hochul said.  This has, in turn, undercut my faith, and the public's faith, in the District Attorney's ability to effectively investigate and prosecute the case at this time.

Hochul said the attorney general would oversee the investigation and, if warranted, present evidence to a grand jury.

 The young woman at the center of this case deserves to know that every fact will be examined and justice pursued. This action will ensure that the matter is fully and thoroughly investigated without conflict or bias, and handled independently with the rigor that this matter demands. 

A former Cornell University student who alleges she was gang raped at a fraternity in 2024 received a text-message apology from one of the brothers soon afterward. After initially saying she didn't see what happened as illegal, she told him within days that  90% of what happened that night was not consensual,  according to a newspaper report citing records from the university's private investigation.

The documents, as described by The New York Times, trace the woman's shift from seeing the alleged encounter as a dismaying embarrassment to seeing it as a sexual assault - one she then reported to campus police, discussed with the unive

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