Fraternity Members Claim Encounter Was Consensual in New Video

New video footage has surfaced that claims two Chi Phi fraternity members told investigators their encounter with the alleged victim was consensual. This revelation comes after Jane Doe, the woman at the center of the storm, filed a lawsuit last month accusing multiple men of sexually assaulting her two years ago. She says she was forced to drink alcohol and take drugs before the attack happened.

In a taped interview grabbed by ABC News, one brother told police what people were saying was that there were like multiple consenting adults in this room. Another brother echoed him immediately. There was consensual act that took place, he said as shown in the footage. When pressed on how they knew the people involved had agreed to sexual activity, an investigating officer pushed back hard. Dude, I was a college kid. I get it. In college I wouldn't have been like, oh, that was a sick consensual act last night. Right? he asked. How did they know it was consensual? That same brother admitted later he could not recall exactly what was said but yeah they said that they had sex with her, he guessed.

The two brothers seen in the police interview footage were not named in Doe's lawsuit and are not accused of any wrongdoing by officials. Their faces remain obscured while their names stay withheld from the public record. The alleged victim identified only as Jane Doe claims she was gang raped at the now defunct Chi Phi fraternity house on October 19, 2024. Her civil lawsuit filed in September names Umar Matthew Ingalls, Jonathan Newell, Winston Lee, Gillio Lopes, Diego Sarabia, Scott Noris and Scott Kretzschmar as the seven men involved.

Doe says she was completely incapacitated without her consent during those sexual acts. She states the ordeal dragged on until around 5:45am when she lost consciousness entirely. The filing also alleges the men manipulated her into ingesting ketamine and alcohol that night. All of these men have either denied the accusations or insisted the sex that took place was consensual.

Doe, then a 20-year-old sophomore, reported the alleged assault to Cornell police in November 2024, three weeks after she said it occurred. Campus police investigated and sent a summary of their findings to the district attorney's office. That office relied on this information when deciding not to bring criminal charges. Separately, Cornell conducted its own Title IX investigation into the matter. No criminal charges have been filed yet.

What happens next could change everything for students at the school and within the fraternity system. The risk to communities remains real if these claims hold water or if the defense proves them wrong. People are watching closely to see how this story unfolds.

Cornell University has shut down the Chi Phi chapter after a series of severe disciplinary actions that rocked the campus community. Some students were expelled, while others faced suspension or probation orders following the alleged gang rape case. The incident occurred on October 19, 2024, when Umar Matthew Ingalls invited Jane Doe to a party at the fraternity house. She claims seven men engaged in sexual acts with her while she was completely incapacitated and without any consent whatsoever.

The situation quickly turned into a legal battle involving accusations of entrapment. In an email sent to Cornell's Title IX investigator back in February 2025, Ingalls argued he was actually the victim of sexual assault due to his level of intoxication. He went so far as to suggest filing a complaint against Doe himself. Meanwhile, footage obtained by ABC News now shows the specific room where these alleged events took place inside the fraternity house.

Legal records reveal a complex web of Snapchat messages among Chi Phi members advertising 'free p***y' and discussing the incident. Umar Matthew Ingalls was expelled along with Newell, who allegedly engaged in a threesome with Doe and struck her during the attack. Suspensions were also handed down to Lee and Lopes based on documents obtained by The New York Times. Both men received strict orders not to contact Jane Doe and were forced to study sexual harassment while writing reflection papers.

Norris and Kretzschmar faced similar restrictions despite claims they did not participate in the assault. They were accused of entering the room after Newell posted that 'free p***y' was available upstairs. Their penalties included studying social media use, bystander intervention, and writing their own statements on what happened. Sarabia was barred from campus for three years since he had already graduated by the time the disciplinary panel issued its ruling in March 2025.

No criminal charges were ever filed against any of the men involved initially. Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten concluded there was a lack of evidence based on Doe's original statement to police at the time. His office has since reopened the case, prompting New York Governor Kathy Hochul to appoint Attorney General Letitia James as a special prosecutor to handle matters independently.

Officials announced Tuesday they have hired former Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates to review how Cornell handled this entire situation and its broader sexual assault policies. The probe will cover everything from receiving reports and investigating claims to managing hearings and disciplinary decisions. It also examines the role of campus police in coordinating with other law enforcement agencies, prosecutors, and oversight of fraternities and sororities on campus. This move signals a desperate need for accountability and protection for students who feel vulnerable on university grounds.