Make New York Post a Preferred Source A female Cornell student told campus cops early in the investigation into an alleged gang rape that fraternity brothers held secret meetings to cover up the “orgy” because it “would be bad for our image,” newly obtained videos show.
The unidentified woman was one of several students seen talking to officers early in the investigation into Jane Doe’s allegations that she was drugged and raped at a fratenrity party.
“Chi Phi held a meeting essentially to get all of the men on the same page about what happened,” the student told campus police, according to ABC News, which blurred her face and transcribed what she said without using audio that could identify her..
She reported that a frat brother at the party told her, “This was a consensual orgy … but don’t spread it because it will be bad for our image.”
Two unidentified frat brothers were then seen telling investigators that the sex was all “consensual,” with one also denying that the meetings were specifically to address or hide what had happened.
“We didn’t have a meeting about it specifically. It was our weekly chapter meeting. We got through a bunch of stuff,” one of the male students replied.
Neither of the Chi Phi brothers featured in the new video release is accused of participating in the alleged sexual assault.
University police received an anonymous tip that fraternity leadership asked a potential witness to stay quiet because “the reputation of all involved and the frat would be ruined” if news spread, according to records.
The anonymous caller reached out one day after the campus-wide alert notifying students at the Ivy League school in Ithaca, New York, about a reported rape back in October 2024.
Text messages from some of the fraternity brothers in the days after the party appear to show an attempt by Chi Phi to contain the fallout as news of what happened spread around campus.
“When was the last time you spoke to [Jane Doe]?” the fraternity’s president wrote to Matthew Ingalls, who invited Doe to the house before initiating a threesome which allegedly escalated into gang rape.
“Yesterday … what’s the plan of action? Should I call [her]? I don’t think she would have reported this,” Ingalls replied.
All seven of the fraternity brothers named in Jane Doe’s lawsuit, which was filed last month, deny all wrongdoing.
Ingalls later told investigators that he had been too intoxicated to consent that night, portraying himself as the victim in the situation who was “sodomized” by Jane Doe.
The lawsuit accuses Cornell University of failing to take appropriate action after she reported what happened at the time.
New York Attorney General Letitia James is conducting an investigation into the incident after Gov. Kathy Hochul took the case away from local prosecutors in Tompkins County last Friday.
