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The county’s top prosecutor said on Monday that his office would reopen a criminal inquiry into the alleged rape.<\/p>\n
Once appropriate charges were determined, the case would be prosecuted “in the most objective and impartial means possible” through a grand jury, said Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten.<\/p>\n
In the US legal system, prosecutors convene grand juries to weigh evidence and testimony and eventually vote on whether they merit criminal charges.<\/p>\n
The prosecutor said that at the time of the assault two years ago, his office concluded that evidence from the woman’s statement to authorities did not meet the legal bar to bring charges.<\/p>\n
He said he contacted Jane Doe and her lawyers for more information as he prepared to bring the case to a grand jury.<\/p>\n
In his statement, Van Houten included a summary of what Doe told the Cornell University Police Department in 2024 after the alleged attack, noting it differed from the allegations laid out in the lawsuit.<\/p>\n
“Jane Doe’s sworn statement in November of 2024 did not allege that she was drugged against her will or gang raped,” Van Houten said in a statement on Monday.<\/p>\n
“On the contrary, Jane Doe’s statement described her participation in drug use and sexual conduct as voluntary, conscious, and consensual.”<\/p>\n
However, CBS News New York reports that, external<\/span><\/a> it has obtained a transcript of Doe’s interviews with campus police that began on 14 November – more than three weeks after the incident.<\/p>\n She tells police of the initial sexual encounter: “I was pretty OK with all of this.”<\/p>\n But the outlet reports that she said of what happened later: “I can say with 100% confidence I was raped.”<\/p>\n If you are suffering distress or despair and need support, you could speak to a health professional, or an organisation that offers support. Details of help available in many countries can be found at <\/i>Befrienders Worldwide.<\/i>, external<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n A list of UK organisations that can help is available <\/i>here.<\/i><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n