Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten announced the reopening of a criminal investigation into the Cornell University sexual assault allegations on September 28, 2026.
Posted by Behind the Bastards, Checked
- Sources
- 5 support3 context
- Said
- 1 time·
- Confidence
- 95%
Behind the BastardsOct 3, 2026
The claim is supported: Tompkins County DA Matthew Van Houten announced on September 28, 2026 that his office would reopen the criminal investigation into the alleged 2024 Cornell University assault, as reported by Reuters, AP, and the DA's own press release reproduced by the New York Times.
What was said
… They said that they believed Cornell had failed in its obligation to protect the students and to adequately account for its handling of the allegations. So, I do have a couple of updates. On September 28th, That thomkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten you know, that do nothing DA I was describing earlier well, he announced that his office was actually going to do something, and that is to reopen this criminal investigation. Van Houten says that his office has assigned a senior prosecutor with experience prosecuting sex crimes and is preparing to present the case to a grand jury. …
Behind the Bastards · · from the transcriptPost →What we found
Supports. Reuters reports that Van Houten confirmed on Monday, September 28, 2026 that New York state prosecutors had reopened the investigation into the alleged 2024 gang rape at a Cornell fraternity house.[1]
Supports. AP reports that Van Houten said Monday that his office will present evidence to a grand jury, and the NYT reproduces the DA's September 28, 2026 press release announcing the reopening.[2][4]
Supports. PBS, Snopes, and other outlets dated September 28, 2026 likewise report that the DA announced the reopening of the case after the civil lawsuit filed September 16.[3][5]
Context. Some outlets describe the step as reconsidering or reexamining the case and deciding whether to bring charges rather than an active charging process, which is a matter of wording and does not contradict the announcement.[6][7][8]
Sources
8 sources: 3 fact-checkers, 4 tier 2, 1 not rated
- 1Prosecutors reopen investigation into alleged 2024 gang rape at Cornell Universityreuters.com · fact-checker · cited for: supports
- 2Woman told Cornell police 2 years ago she was 100% confident she was raped, report saysapnews.com · fact-checker · cited for: supports
- 3'Cornell 7' gang rape lawsuit: What we know about the ...snopes.com · fact-checker · cited for: supports
- 4The district attorney explained why he reopened the Cornell ...nytimes.com · tier 2 · cited for: supports
- 5Prosecutor reopens probe into Cornell gang rape allegations after accuser files lawsuitpbs.org · tier 2 · cited for: supports
- 6District attorney defends past decision not to seek criminal ...nbcnews.com · tier 2 · cited for: context
- 7DA reopens investigation after former Cornell student files ... - CNNcnn.com · tier 2 · cited for: context
- 8District attorney reopens case of alleged Cornell University ...abc7.com · not rated · cited for: context
Where this claim was made
Said in 1 published post
Related claims
- Jane Doe reported the alleged assault to the Cornell University Police on November 8, 2024.True
- The Cornell Daily Sun published the names of the men named as defendants in the Jane Doe lawsuit on September 21, 2026.True
- Jane Doe filed a formal Title IX complaint with Cornell University in January 2025.True
- A criminal complaint regarding the sexual assault allegations against an LSU football player was brought to the East Baton Rouge Parish District Attorney's Office on September 22, 2026.True
- Tompkins County District Attorney Matt Van Houten described Snapchat messages related to the Cornell assault case as morally disgusting.True