The lawyer for the woman who alleges she was raped at a Cornell University fraternity house says she is “not doing well” as she finds herself “under siege” from online sleuths seeking to identity her. Thomas Giuffra said the woman known in legal documents as Jane Doe was “incapable of consent” because she was “completely, grossly intoxicated” when she turned up at the home where she says the assault took place. The woman alleges she was raped by seven men at the campus in Ithaca, New York, in 2024. No charges were initially filed in the case.
It has reopened since she filed a civil lawsuit that thrust the claims into the national spotlight, reigniting the possibility of criminal charges. In an interview on Friday with CNN, Giuffra said: “She’s under siege on social media where people are trying to identify her.” He said that postings have “incorrectly” identified other woman as Doe. In an interview with CBS, the BBC’s US partner, Giuffra argued that his client, aged 20 at the time, was unable to provide consent because she was intoxicated when she arrived at the fraternity house. Giuffra said she had been pressured into taking the drug ketamine before she was allegedly raped.
His comments came as New York Governor Kathy Hochul appointed the state’s top prosecutor, Attorney General Letitia James, to take over the investigation. At a news conference on Friday, Hochul said she had “lost faith” in the county prosecutor’s ability to oversee the case. “This young woman had already endured something that is utterly unspeakable, and then at every turn she was failed by people and institutions with an obligation to protect her,” Hochul said. She also vowed to close a “loophole” of state law that makes it difficult to press rape charges if an alleged victim voluntarily consumes alcohol or drugs.
Social media feeds are filled with women trying to shield the Cornell accuser’s identity by posting videos of themselves under the title “I am Jane Doe”. As well as seeking to complicate internet searches for her name, the messages of solidarity included clips of women detailing their own experiences of sexual assault. Efforts to rally round Jane Doe gathered pace after a political commentator vowed to unmask her, arguing it was unfair for her to remain anonymous while the men are publicly named despite not being charged with a crime. Online sleuths have also tried to locate the addresses of the so-called Cornell Seven, leading to at least one case of mistaken identity.
An active-duty US Marine Corps sergeant who had the same name as one of the men was incorrectly served the woman’s lawsuit, leading to a torrent of abuse and threats, according to the Free Press, external.
