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The former Cornell student accusing seven fraternity brothers of gang raping her complained to one of them about how she was once wrongly mistaken as being transgender, newly resurfaced text messages show.
The accuser, identified only as Jane Doe, texted Matthew Umar Ingalls about the cruel rumors when they were initially being amiable in the days after the October 2024 party that she later alleged had been a gang rape, according to the messages obtained by CBS News.
“People always want to talk about soemthing like i had transgender allegations last year but i just gave it no attention and it disappeared,” Doe wrote to Ingalls of how they should cope with people talking about the party three days earlier.
“Silence is the most powerful response always but i always want to say something is the prob,” she advised Ingalls, weeks before reporting what happened at the party as rape.
A day later, on Oct. 23, Doe brought up the transgender rumors again to Ingalls while saying that the rumors over the Chi Phi party were “ruining” her life.
“Also i had transgender allegations last year too so if anyone mentions it i mention the fact that i’ve been rumored about so many times. And we know i’m not transgender so,” Doe wrote.
Ingalls replied with two emojis of someone crying with laughter.
The latest messages again show Doe being friends with some of the men she later accused, which her lawyer, Thomas Giuffra, told CBS News was “a textbook response to sexual assault” with “classic symptoms of delayed recognition.”
In the same thread to Ingalls, Doe had dismissed the gossips as people just “jealous of us.”
“But also like everyone needs to grow up cause sexuality and sex and s[–]t is changing and stuff like this is going to become more common,, i’m also really open minded tho.
“i luv u king,, also tell anyone who gives u s[–]t that i’ll actually beat them up that don’t want the smoke i promise.”
In a separate message, Doe asked another of the later-accused frat bros, Jonathan Newell, if he could help her find earrings she lost that night, asking him again a week later.
“Did you find my earrings my mom gave them to me for my birthday i really want them back,” Doe wrote.
Newell replied, “I’m sorry I haven’t seen them, I’ll look more when I get back from class what do they look like?”
Here’s the latest on the ‘Cornell 7’ frat probe:
- ‘Cornell 7’ rape accuser claims she faced bizarre accusation in newly resurfaced text messages
- Cops raided ‘Cornell 7’ accuser Jane Doe’s house, held boyfriend, brother at gunpoint after she was ‘swatted’: report
- Cornell president pressed by angry faculty members frustrated by his handling of gang rape case
- Cornell only expelled 2 of 16 students found responsible for recent sex assaults
In the separate messages, Doe reassured Newell that “none of the sexual stuff was illegal,” and said that the pair should meet again, as rumors of the debauched ketamine-fuelled orgy at the frat party continued to spread around campus.
“We should smoke again sometime but like leave out the extra 5 billion men and ketamine,” she wrote.
“Oh definitely. I’m off hard drugs for good,” Newell replied.
These messages were before a Halloween party at Chi Phi from which Doe was reportedly uninvited by the fraternity in the wake of the earlier fallout.
Several days later, on Nov. 3, Doe messaged Newell again but this time the tone of the messages had changed.
“Let’s be clear that 90% of what happened that night was not consensual. i was given more key [ketamine] than i can remember and i know that i told you i felt uncomfortable and i didn’t know anyone in the room. all i remember after that was u giving me ket to do off your d–k in front of everyone like a sex doll/worker,” Doe wrote.
On Nov. 7, Doe went to an emergency room in Ithaca to request a rape kit, before reporting the assault to the police.
The following day, Chi Phi was suspended as Cornell launched a Title IX investigation.
No fraternity brothers were prosecuted, but both Ingalls and Newell were expelled from college as a result of the investigation.
The incident has become a national story after Doe filed a lawsuit last month, leading to authorities reopening the case and appointing a special prosecutor to investigate.
All seven men named in the lawsuit, including Ingalls, Newell, Winston Lee, Gillio Lopes, Diego Sarabia, Scott Norris and Scott Kretzschma, deny the allegations against them, and none of them have been criminally charged.
If you or someone you know is affected by any of the issues raised in this story, call the Sexual Assault Hotline at 800-656-HOPE (800-656-4673).