Cornell frat house rape accuser 'under siege' online, says lawyer

What the report says

A lawyer for the woman identified in court papers as Jane Doe says she is struggling as online users try to uncover her identity after she accused seven men of raping her at a Cornell University fraternity house in Ithaca, New York, in 2024. BBC World News reported that Thomas Giuffra said the client is “not doing well” and described her as under pressure from social media attention. He said some posts have wrongly named other women as the accuser.

Giuffra told BBC’s US partner CBS that his client was 20 at the time and could not consent because she was heavily intoxicated when she arrived at the fraternity house. He also said she had been pressured into taking ketamine before the alleged assault. The case initially did not lead to criminal charges, but it has been reopened after the filing of a civil lawsuit brought the allegations into wider public view.

The report said the case has also prompted a broader debate over how sexual assault allegations are handled when alcohol or drug use is involved. On Friday, New York Governor Kathy Hochul said she had lost confidence in the county prosecutor’s handling of the matter and transferred the investigation to state Attorney General Letitia James. Hochul also said she wants to close a state-law gap that can make rape prosecutions harder when an alleged victim voluntarily uses alcohol or drugs. BBC World News noted that online solidarity posts have also emerged, alongside efforts by some users to identify the accused men and the accuser.