The View cohost Sunny Hostin defends district attorney for not bringing charges against several Cornell University fraternity members accused of raping a fellow student in 2024.
“I have the statement that Jane Doe wrote at that time. It’s several pages long,” Hostin, 57, said on Tuesday, September 29. episode of ABC’s daytime talk show. “I will say, under current New York state law, voluntary alcohol or drug use – and she voluntarily drank a lot and voluntarily sprayed ketamine off one of the boy’s body parts – she allowed other boys and consented to other boys spraying ketamine off her body.”
The former federal prosecutor continued, “Under New York law, voluntary alcohol or drug use that merely impairs judgment does not legally constitute an inability to consent to sexual activity.”
Hostin went on to say that she understood why the Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten did not bring charges against a group of fraternity brothers after the 2024 alleged assault.
“If you voluntarily take drugs, voluntarily take alcohol, you can agree to have threesomes, which, in her statement, she agreed to have two different threesomes,” said Hostin. “One young man walked in and said, ‘Everybody out.’ So there was one person who did that. According to her statement, three of the young men did not touch her.”
After her polarizing appearance, Hostin made it clear that the new Jane Doe lawsuit should be investigated and taken seriously.
At the same time, she advised viewers during The View‘s Hot Topics to research more than just headlines before jumping to conclusions.
“I say all that to say that the pictures of these young men who have not been charged – who have not been tried – are being plastered all over the internet,” she said. “I think people are reporting this story wrongly. I think they are reporting it unfairly.”
Hostin continued, “While this is something we have to take seriously, there is no way, based on her statement in 2024, any prosecutor would have brought a case out.
Jane Doe, a former student at the Ivy League school, sued Cornell and seven fraternity members, alleging that she was drugged and sexually assaulted for at least seven hours in October 2024 at the Chi Phi fraternity house in Ithaca, New York.
No arrests have been made in connection with the case, and the local district attorney has said he is reopening the case in light of the civil suit and messages leaked from a Snapchat group message advertising “free p****,” the derogatory term for female genitalia, at the time of the alleged attack.
Lawyers representing the named fraternity members have strongly denied the claims in the lawsuit.
“Jane Doe’s November 2024 sworn statement did not allege that she was drugged against her will or coerced. On the contrary, Jane Doe’s statement described her participation in drug use and sexual behavior as voluntary, conscious and consensual,” Van Houten said in a statement. report. “It is clear that my office did not and could not have based our November 2024 decision on the allegations in a civil lawsuit that would not be filed until nearly two years later. Additionally, Jane Doe’s attorneys never contacted me.”
The attorney for Jane Doe has disputed Van Houten’s description of the alleged victim’s initial statement and blamed authorities for not following up with his client.
The District Attorney who initially led the investigation into a former Cornell University student’s allegations that she was raped by seven fraternity members in 2024 admits his office did not conduct an initial independent investigation into the case. Instead, the DA was solely responsible for campus police. Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van […]
“In my experience, talking to an abuse survivor requires reluctance, understanding and special training,” said a lawyer. Thomas P. Giuffra told ABC News. “A typical University Police officer would not have these skills. It would be the responsibility of a specially trained detective or district attorney. However, no one with these skills ever contacted Ms. Doe.”
Cornell University said in a statement that it takes sexual harassment allegations “very seriously” and that the Office of Civil Rights and the Office of Student Conduct and Community Standards “investigated and adjudicated the allegations consistent with university policies.”
“Any suggestion that the University did not impose penalties as a result of those involved is false,” Cornell said in September via ABC News. “Continuing the false narrative that there were few consequences in this case is irresponsible, will make survivors feel safer and more supported, and will perpetuate the underreporting of sexual assault.”
If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, call the agent National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).