The Cornell University student who alleged she was gang raped by members of a fraternity said some of them were joking about having an “eightsome” with her and bemoaned that her reputation had been “destroyed,” according to newly revealed documents and text messages.
The alleged victim, who claims she was coerced to take drugs and drink to excess before being sexually assaulted by multiple members of the Chi Phi fraternity, told police that news of what happened spread around campus and became “public knowledge” the next day on Oct. 20, 2024.
Several frat members “were bragging about having an ‘eightsome’ with me,” she said in a six-page statement given to Cornell Campus Police roughly a month after the alleged incident.
The now-former student, named only as Jane Doe, texted one of the fraternity brothers that she’d had an initial threesome with, Matthew Ingalls, on Oct. 23, according to documents from a Cornell review of the accusations obtained by the New York Times.
“Bro, everyone knows,” Doe wrote, adding that what had happened was “RUINING my life temporarily” and destroying her reputation, text messages collected as part of the private Title IX proceedings said.
Ingalls seemingly tried to calm her, writing “how fast nonsense spreads at this school,” and adding that she didn’t have “anything to be ashamed of,” according to the files.
“You’re right,” Doe wrote. “It’ll get better.”
Doe also told her roommate to deny anything had happened if asked, as per the documents.
“As the days went on, I think she kind of came to realize that it was something bad. And that she didn’t really enjoy her time there,” the roommate said, according to the Times.
A post on a Greek life forum also claimed around this time that Chi Phi had been “gang banging” on campus.
On Oct. 28, Ingalls allegedly apologized to Doe over the phone, and she was was heard saying, “How could you let this happen?” by her roommate, the Times reported.
Doe was subsequently disinvited from a Halloween party at Chi Phi by the fraternity president who told her it was for her own good, according to her texts.
She then fired off another message to Ingalls.
“I knew this was going to happen. The women will always get the short end of the stick. Yall aren’t my friends. Yall are covering your asses,” she wrote, according to the documents.
On Nov. 3, Doe appears to have concluded that she had been sexually assaulted at the October party, writing a message to another of the fraternity brothers, Jonathan Newell.
“Let’s be clear that 90% of what happened that night was not consensual,” Doe wrote, according to the documents.
“I was given more [ketamine] than I can remember and I know that I told you I felt uncomfortable and I didn’t know anyone in the room,” she texted.
She told Newell that one of her only memories of the night was snorting ketamine off his penis “in front of everyone like a sex doll/worker,” according to the texts.
In her final message, she wrote, “I think I’m done talking to you. I know you lied.”
On Nov. 7, Doe requested a rape kit from an emergency room in Ithaca, New York, after contracting a urinary tract infection, according to the documents.
On Nov. 14, about three weeks after the alleged incident, Doe went to campus police, where she was interviewed over the course of two days.
No criminal charges were brought at the time.
The case has gained national attention after Doe filed a lawsuit last month naming seven fraternity brothers who she alleged participated in the abuse, as well as Cornell, Chi Pi and other parties.
Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten — who has since reopened an investigation — defended the decision not to press charges at the time, saying the documents his office received did not include statements from Doe suggesting rape or coercion.
Attorneys for Newell and Ingalls were not immediately available for comment.
If you or someone you know is affected by any of the issues raised in this story, call the Sexual Assault Hotline at 800-656-HOPE (800-656-4673).
