Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten has reopened the investigation into allegations of sexual assault at a Cornell University fraternity house in October 2024, saying his office will review the case and present it to a grand jury if prosecutors determine charges are appropriate. Van Houten said Sept. 28 that he assigned a senior prosecutor with sex-crimes experience to begin preparing for the review. No criminal charges have been filed. The renewed review follows a civil lawsuit filed this month by a woman identified in court as Jane Doe. She alleges that several men drugged and raped her for more than four hours at the Chi Phi fraternity house. The lawsuit names seven alleged assailants, the fraternity, Cornell and other defendants. The allegations have not been established in court. Van Houten said the claims in the lawsuit differ from Doe’s sworn statement to his office in November 2024. He said that statement described drug use and sexual activity as voluntary and consensual, and did not allege that she had been drugged against her will or raped by multiple people. The district attorney said his office could not have based its 2024 decision on allegations in a lawsuit filed nearly two years later. The prosecutor also said Doe’s attorneys had not contacted his office to say the original statement was inaccurate or to request that he reconsider the decision. He said he has reached out to her attorneys to discuss the discrepancy. They did not respond to a request for comment before the announcement. Cornell said it supports the renewed investigation but defended its handling of the matter. University Vice President for University Relations Kyle Kimball said Cornell conducted a Title IX investigation lasting several months and held a hearing over multiple days, with a panel of trained faculty and staff hearing evidence from all sides. The university said suspensions and expulsions followed, but did not identify who was disciplined. Kimball rejected claims that the university failed to impose serious consequences. The Xi chapter of Chi Phi was barred from Cornell’s campus in 2024, when details of the case first became public. Van Houten said his office has received calls from people demanding answers about the case, as well as calls containing insults and threats. The grand jury review is the next potential step in the criminal process; the civil lawsuit is a separate proceeding.