New York
Prosecutor reopens probe into Cornell gang rape allegations after accuser files lawsuit
A New York prosecutor has reopened an investigation into gang rape allegations at a Cornell University fraternity in response to a lawsuit filed by a woman who says she was sexually assaulted in 2024 by seven students after being plied with alcohol and drugs.
Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten said Monday that his office will present evidence to a grand jury as he faces questions from the public about why there were no criminal prosecutions in the case.
The woman, identified only by a pseudonym in the lawsuit, filed the complaint Sept. 16, saying she was sexually assaulted at the Chi Phi fraternity house on Cornell’s campus in October 2024 after being pressured into snorting ketamine, smoking marijuana and drinking alcohol. She’s suing seven men, the Chi Phi fraternity, the university, an Ithaca bar and others, seeking undisclosed damages.
The woman went to campus police at the time, but Van Houten said the accuser did not make any claims of being gang raped or drugged in her initial sworn statement to authorities. The prosecutor also said he has never been contacted by the woman’s attorney about her statement or about reconsidering the decision not to prosecute.
“While I generally refrain from commenting publicly on criminal investigations, the community outrage stemming from the incomplete news and social media coverage requires that I provide an answer to why the investigation resulted in a lack of criminal charges,” Van Houten said in a statement.
Cornell said in a statement that it supports the district attorney’s decision to reopen the investigation. The school said it conducted its own investigation and issued sanctions, including expelling some students and suspending others. It also said the on-campus Chi Phi chapter was closed in 2024 and remains barred from campus.
School officials on Monday did not immediately respond to a message seeking more information, including how many students were expelled and suspended.
“Any suggestion that the university did not impose consequential punishments for those involved is false,” the university said. “A continuation of the false narrative that there were minimal consequences in this case is irresponsible, will make survivors feel less safe and supported, and will perpetuate the underreporting of sexual assault.”
The national chapter of Chi Phi did not immediately return phone and email messages Monday.
The school said it conducted an internal disciplinary investigation in 2024. It said a panel of trained faculty and staff heard evidence over multiple days, and both the woman and the people accused had the opportunity to testify and present evidence.
The woman’s attorney did not immediately respond Monday to messages seeking comment on the prosecutor’s decision to reopen the investigation.
The lawsuit contains allegations about what started as a night of celebrating at a sorority and a local bar. It also accuses the university of not preventing the alleged assaults and includes a photo that it says shows a group chat between frat members discussing sex with the woman.
Since the lawsuit was filed, Van Houten said, his office has been flooded with phone calls, voicemails and emails about the case from people seeking answers and others making insults and threats.
Alabama
TikTok settles lawsuit for at least $100M, will implement safety features for teens
TikTok will pay the state of Alabama at least $100 million and must implement a slew of safety features for teens in the state as part of a settlement agreement reached just before the case was set to go to trial.
Alabama sued the social media company in 2025 claiming that the platform had negative effects on the mental well-being of youths.
The lawsuit argued that TikTok’s “addictive properties” — namely its algorithm that curates highly specific content catered to users’ interests — were harmful to children and that the company knew of those harms.
Through the settlement, TikTok will make several platform-level changes for teen users in Alabama, including the option for teens to select a non-personalized content feed.
The platform will also bar cosmetic procedure filters for teens, implement a two-hour daily time limit and ban nighttime use from midnight to 6 a.m. Young users in Alabama will also be prompted to take a “productive pause” after 15 minutes of continuous use, and again at 60 and 90 minutes.
In addition to the platform changes, TikTok will pay Alabama $100 million in restitution and remediation, which will likely go toward funding youth mental health services and other programs. If enough other states reach qualifying settlements with TikTok within a specific time frame, Alabama could receive up to an additional $183.8 million.
The platform-level changes outlined in the settlement agreement are roughly similar to changes Meta agreed to make when it reached a settlement this summer to resolve similar claims that were filed by nearly every state, including Alabama. Meta had called on TikTok and its other chief competitor, YouTube, to join it in adopting similar standards, but TikTok had not publicly responded.
Katherine Robertson, chief counsel in the Alabama Attorney General’s office and the Republican nominee to be the state’s next attorney general, acknowledged the similarities with the Meta agreement and told The Associated Press on Friday: “There’s been a war on childhood coming from a million different directions.”
“We recognize that parents and youth are fighting a battle against a bunch of different platforms,” Robertson said. “They’re manipulating kids to get addicted to their product, essentially.”
The settlement also outlines more robust and user-friendly parental controls, stronger age verification measures TikTok must take, and stronger content moderation protocols. Teen accounts will also be set to private by default.
Alabama would have been the first state to argue its claims against TikTok in front of a jury. The trial was scheduled to begin Monday.
TikTok has settled several lawsuits with similar claims filed by individuals before they went to trial, most notably in the landmark social media addiction trial in Los Angeles earlier this year. The jury in that case found that YouTube and Meta designed their platforms to hook young users without concern for their well-being.
TikTok also reached a $400 million settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice in August, ending a 2024 lawsuit alleging the company violated federal children’s privacy laws.
Prosecutor reopens probe into Cornell gang rape allegations after accuser files lawsuit
A New York prosecutor has reopened an investigation into gang rape allegations at a Cornell University fraternity in response to a lawsuit filed by a woman who says she was sexually assaulted in 2024 by seven students after being plied with alcohol and drugs.
Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten said Monday that his office will present evidence to a grand jury as he faces questions from the public about why there were no criminal prosecutions in the case.
The woman, identified only by a pseudonym in the lawsuit, filed the complaint Sept. 16, saying she was sexually assaulted at the Chi Phi fraternity house on Cornell’s campus in October 2024 after being pressured into snorting ketamine, smoking marijuana and drinking alcohol. She’s suing seven men, the Chi Phi fraternity, the university, an Ithaca bar and others, seeking undisclosed damages.
The woman went to campus police at the time, but Van Houten said the accuser did not make any claims of being gang raped or drugged in her initial sworn statement to authorities. The prosecutor also said he has never been contacted by the woman’s attorney about her statement or about reconsidering the decision not to prosecute.
“While I generally refrain from commenting publicly on criminal investigations, the community outrage stemming from the incomplete news and social media coverage requires that I provide an answer to why the investigation resulted in a lack of criminal charges,” Van Houten said in a statement.
Cornell said in a statement that it supports the district attorney’s decision to reopen the investigation. The school said it conducted its own investigation and issued sanctions, including expelling some students and suspending others. It also said the on-campus Chi Phi chapter was closed in 2024 and remains barred from campus.
School officials on Monday did not immediately respond to a message seeking more information, including how many students were expelled and suspended.
“Any suggestion that the university did not impose consequential punishments for those involved is false,” the university said. “A continuation of the false narrative that there were minimal consequences in this case is irresponsible, will make survivors feel less safe and supported, and will perpetuate the underreporting of sexual assault.”
The national chapter of Chi Phi did not immediately return phone and email messages Monday.
The school said it conducted an internal disciplinary investigation in 2024. It said a panel of trained faculty and staff heard evidence over multiple days, and both the woman and the people accused had the opportunity to testify and present evidence.
The woman’s attorney did not immediately respond Monday to messages seeking comment on the prosecutor’s decision to reopen the investigation.
The lawsuit contains allegations about what started as a night of celebrating at a sorority and a local bar. It also accuses the university of not preventing the alleged assaults and includes a photo that it says shows a group chat between frat members discussing sex with the woman.
Since the lawsuit was filed, Van Houten said, his office has been flooded with phone calls, voicemails and emails about the case from people seeking answers and others making insults and threats.
Alabama
TikTok settles lawsuit for at least $100M, will implement safety features for teens
TikTok will pay the state of Alabama at least $100 million and must implement a slew of safety features for teens in the state as part of a settlement agreement reached just before the case was set to go to trial.
Alabama sued the social media company in 2025 claiming that the platform had negative effects on the mental well-being of youths.
The lawsuit argued that TikTok’s “addictive properties” — namely its algorithm that curates highly specific content catered to users’ interests — were harmful to children and that the company knew of those harms.
Through the settlement, TikTok will make several platform-level changes for teen users in Alabama, including the option for teens to select a non-personalized content feed.
The platform will also bar cosmetic procedure filters for teens, implement a two-hour daily time limit and ban nighttime use from midnight to 6 a.m. Young users in Alabama will also be prompted to take a “productive pause” after 15 minutes of continuous use, and again at 60 and 90 minutes.
In addition to the platform changes, TikTok will pay Alabama $100 million in restitution and remediation, which will likely go toward funding youth mental health services and other programs. If enough other states reach qualifying settlements with TikTok within a specific time frame, Alabama could receive up to an additional $183.8 million.
The platform-level changes outlined in the settlement agreement are roughly similar to changes Meta agreed to make when it reached a settlement this summer to resolve similar claims that were filed by nearly every state, including Alabama. Meta had called on TikTok and its other chief competitor, YouTube, to join it in adopting similar standards, but TikTok had not publicly responded.
Katherine Robertson, chief counsel in the Alabama Attorney General’s office and the Republican nominee to be the state’s next attorney general, acknowledged the similarities with the Meta agreement and told The Associated Press on Friday: “There’s been a war on childhood coming from a million different directions.”
“We recognize that parents and youth are fighting a battle against a bunch of different platforms,” Robertson said. “They’re manipulating kids to get addicted to their product, essentially.”
The settlement also outlines more robust and user-friendly parental controls, stronger age verification measures TikTok must take, and stronger content moderation protocols. Teen accounts will also be set to private by default.
Alabama would have been the first state to argue its claims against TikTok in front of a jury. The trial was scheduled to begin Monday.
TikTok has settled several lawsuits with similar claims filed by individuals before they went to trial, most notably in the landmark social media addiction trial in Los Angeles earlier this year. The jury in that case found that YouTube and Meta designed their platforms to hook young users without concern for their well-being.
TikTok also reached a $400 million settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice in August, ending a 2024 lawsuit alleging the company violated federal children’s privacy laws.
