Criminal case reopened in Cornell sexual assault case involving Korean student
People walk on the campus of Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y., Feb. 2, 2024. AP-Yonhap
SEATTLE — A Korean student named as one of seven defendants in a sexual assault lawsuit involving Cornell University is facing renewed scrutiny as prosecutors in New York are reopening the criminal investigation into the 2024 case.
Winston Lee, widely believed to be a Korean national, is among seven current and former Cornell students accused in a civil lawsuit filed this month by a former student identified as Jane Doe. She alleges that she was drugged and sexually assaulted by multiple members of the Chi Phi fraternity at its house in October 2024.
No criminal charges were filed following the initial police investigation, but Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten said Monday that his office has begun reconsidering whether charges should be pursued.
“I have been asked by the community to revisit the decision whether to pursue criminal charges against the seven fraternity members,” Van Houten said in a statement. “I have already begun that process, starting with our conversation with Jane Doe and her attorneys.”
Van Houten said his office intends to take the case before a grand jury after determining what charges, if any, are appropriate.
“The Grand Jury will be able to consider the testimony of Jane Doe as well as any new evidence raised by the allegations of the civil complaint,” he said.
The district attorney has assigned a senior prosecutor to prepare the case for presentation to the Tompkins County Grand Jury.
Van Houten also explained why criminal charges were not pursued following the original police investigation, saying Doe's account to Cornell University Police in 2024 differed significantly from the allegations in the civil lawsuit.
He said his office relied on the investigation conducted by Cornell police rather than conducting a parallel investigation of its own.
Van Houten acknowledged, however, that sexual assault victims may need time to fully process what happened to them and that new evidence can warrant reconsideration of an earlier decision.
“I recognize the reality that it can take years of therapy and healing for victims of sexual assaults to fully process and understand what happened to them,” he said. “Seeking justice sometimes requires us to reconsider or reopen cases when we are provided with additional evidence.”
Doe's attorney, Thomas P. Giuffra, has disputed Van Houten's characterization of her original statement and criticized authorities' handling of the initial investigation.
Giuffra told ABC News that authorities were provided in 2024 with messages from a Snapchat group chat that he described as critical evidence. Van Houten said the group chat included in the civil complaint was not provided to his office.
Cornell said Monday that it supports the district attorney's decision to give Doe an opportunity to have her account heard by a criminal grand jury.
The university also defended its handling of the case, saying its months-long Title IX investigation resulted in a range of sanctions, including suspensions and expulsions.
“Any suggestion that the University did not impose consequential punishments for those involved is false,” Cornell said in the statement.
Cornell also disputed claims that students involved received only minimal punishment, saying none of those charged were offered an opportunity to write essays as the sole consequence of their involvement. The university said the Chi Phi chapter was closed in 2024 and remains barred from campus.