The attorney for the woman who says she was gang raped by fellow Cornell University students in 2024 has confirmed that his client explicitly told investigators she was sexually assaulted, directly contradicting a claim made earlier this week by the local district attorney.
Thomas Giuffra, the attorney representing the accuser known as Jane Doe, told NPR that transcripts of her sworn 2024 statement to police include a clear and unambiguous declaration. According to Giuffra, his client told investigators, "I can say with 100% percent confidence I was raped."
NPR specifically asked Giuffra to confirm on the record that his client made that exact quoted statement regarding her assault. He responded by text message: "Yes she did."
July 22, 2026
The confirmation carries significant weight because it clashes with public statements from Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten. On Monday, Van Houten issued a public statement asserting that Doe never stated she was raped.
The prosecutor's characterization of the accuser's account has become a central flashpoint in a case that has drawn national attention and raised troubling questions about how local authorities handled the woman's allegations.
On Wednesday, Van Houten told NPR's local station WSKG that he had not read the full account of Doe's detailed statements to investigators, in which she repeatedly described being assaulted. That admission suggests the district attorney may have been unaware of key portions of the investigative record when he made his public claim about what the accuser did or did not say.
The discrepancy raises broader concerns about communication between campus police and the district attorney's office, and about whether the full scope of the woman's allegations was properly conveyed to prosecutors.
NPR reached out to Cornell University to ask whether campus police had provided the district attorney with all of the information from their investigation, including Doe's repeated statements about being assaulted. The university did not respond to the request for comment.
CBS News New York also reported Wednesday on a transcript of an interview between the woman and investigators, further bringing the specifics of her account into public view.
The case stems from allegations that Jane Doe was gang raped by fellow Cornell students in 2024. The allegations have focused attention on the Chi Phi fraternity house at Cornell, as well as on the university's handling of the matter.
The dispute over the prosecutor's statements comes amid mounting scrutiny of how Cornell and local law enforcement responded to the woman's allegations. Cornell has already agreed to an independent probe into its handling of the fraternity rape case, a decision announced in late September.
That independent investigation is expected to examine the university's conduct and could provide a fuller accounting of what happened, what was reported, and how officials at various levels acted on the information they received.
For advocates who work with survivors of sexual violence, the conflicting accounts are deeply troubling. When a prosecutor publicly asserts that an accuser never claimed to have been raped, it can undermine the accuser's credibility and discourage other survivors from coming forward, victim advocates say.
The fact that the district attorney now acknowledges he had not read the complete record of Doe's statements compounds those concerns. Prosecutors are generally expected to review investigative materials thoroughly before making definitive public statements about what a complainant said.
Legal experts note that the precise wording used by survivors matters enormously in sexual assault cases, where memory, trauma, and phrasing are often closely examined by defense attorneys. A statement such as "I was raped," delivered with certainty, would be a significant data point in any charging or credibility assessment.
The case also underscores the complicated dynamics that can arise when campus police, rather than municipal law enforcement, take the lead in investigating serious felony allegations involving students. Jurisdictional questions, resource constraints, and communication gaps between campus and county agencies can all affect how a case proceeds.
Cornell has faced criticism over its response to the allegations, which is part of why the university agreed to the independent review. The probe may also examine whether the university's handling aligned with its obligations under federal law and its own policies.
NPR has continued to seek comment from Cornell and from the district attorney's office as the dispute over Doe's statements intensifies. The university's silence on whether campus police shared all investigative findings with the prosecutor leaves a key question unanswered.
As the case moves forward, the competing accounts of what Jane Doe told investigators — and what the district attorney knew when he spoke publicly — are likely to remain at the center of both the legal proceedings and the broader public debate over how institutions respond to sexual assault allegations.
For now, the accuser's attorney says the record speaks clearly, and that record, he maintains, includes his client's unambiguous statement that she was raped.
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