Cornell accuser to remain 'Jane Doe' throughout civil trial…as judge issues stern warning to those trying to expose her identity

The woman accusing seven Cornell fraternity members of sexual assault will remain anonymous as ‘Jane Doe’ throughout her civil trial against them and the university, a judge has ruled.

The woman's suit claims she was drugged, sexually assaulted and gang raped during a party at the Chi Phi fraternity house in 2024 by seven men, all of whom have denied the accusations. The case has sparked a national firestorm.

Judge Phaedra Perry-Bond of the Supreme Court of the State of New York on Friday granted her lawyer's motion to keep her anonymous throughout the trial, without opposition from the defense.

Both sides agreed to the accuser remaining anonymous while the reopened investigations into the case proceed.

Judge Perry-Bond said there could be exceptions requiring the accuser's identity to be disclosed privately during discovery.

She also warned those who she said ‘have made it their mission to try and identify Jane Doe’ during the trial.

The judge said the same protections should ‘likewise be extended’ to the defendants and that she was open to such a filing from their attorneys.

Doe filed the lawsuit last month, alleging the men sexually assaulted or exploited her on October 19, 2024.

All of those men have denied wrongdoing, saying either that their interactions were consensual or that they weren't involved. 

Doe claimed that the seven men engaged in sexual acts with her while she was 'completely incapacitated' and without her consent. She says the ordeal continued until she lost consciousness.

She said the men manipulated her into ingesting ketamine and alcohol, and that other men entered the room while she was incapacitated, the lawsuit said.

She also alleged that Snapchat messages describing her as sexually available to anyone at the house circulated among fraternity members without her knowledge.

Doe, then a 20-year-old sophomore, reported the alleged assault to Cornell police in November 2024, three weeks after she said it occurred.

Campus police investigated and sent a summary of their findings to the district attorney's office, which relied on the information in deciding not to bring criminal charges. Separately, Cornell conducted a Title IX investigation.

The Chi Phi chapter at Cornell was shut down, and the university has said it expelled some students and suspended others. 

Cornell last week suspended all parties and social events at fraternity houses through the end of the 2026-27 academic year and implemented a new 'zero tolerance' policy that would immediately suspend chapters for violations.

Crimes reported on Cornell's campus are generally investigated by campus police, a department that has full law enforcement powers but is controlled by the university.

The campus police force operates independently from municipal police in Ithaca, New York, where the university is located. 

Its officers investigated the 2024 gang rape allegations and presented their initial findings to the Tompkins County district attorney, who declined to prosecute within weeks of the woman making her first report to police.

New York Governor Kathy Hochul removed the district attorney from the case this month after a public outcry over the lack of charges.

The investigation is now being led by New York Attorney General Letitia James, while Cornell has hired former Deputy US Attorney General Sally Yates to conduct an independent review of the university's response.