Newly surfaced video from the investigation into an alleged sexual assault at Cornell University shows two Chi Phi fraternity brothers telling campus police that the encounter was consensual.
The two unidentified students, who are not among the seven men named in a lawsuit alleging the assault, were interviewed separately by investigators in the weeks after the incident.
According to footage obtained by ABC News, both students described what allegedly happened at the fraternity house as involving “consenting adults.”
“What people were saying was that there was like multiple consenting adults in the room,” one fraternity brother tells an investigator.
The second student similarly said, “There was a consensual act that took place.”
Police Question Why Students Used the Word “Consensual”
The investigator appeared to focus on the specific language the students were using and questioned why they repeatedly characterized the encounter as consensual.
“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? I guess how did they know it was consensual?” the officer asked.
“I mean, I can’t recall exactly what was said, but, yeah, I mean, they — they said that they had sex with her, I guess,” the second fraternity brother responded.
The interviews were conducted as police investigated allegations stemming from a party at the Chi Phi fraternity house on Oct. 19, 2024.
The woman at the center of the allegations, identified in court documents as Jane Doe, claims she was sexually assaulted by multiple fraternity members that night.
None of the two brothers featured in the newly released interviews is among the seven men named in Jane Doe’s lawsuit as alleged participants in the assault.
Student Claims Fraternity Held Meeting to “Get Their Stories Straight”
Another interview released as part of the same video provides a different account of how members of the fraternity responded after news of the allegations spread.
An unidentified female student told police that Chi Phi held a meeting after members learned what had allegedly happened.
According to ABC News, the student said she was told the fraternity members were discussing the incident and attempting to align their accounts.
“This was a consensual orgy… but don’t spread it cause it would be bad for our image,” the student said she was told.
The newly surfaced footage offers investigators’ interviews with students who were not named as defendants in the lawsuit and captures conflicting accounts about how the events at the fraternity house were characterized afterward.
The allegations remain the subject of legal proceedings.
Source: Compiled from various sources
