One of the Cornell 7, the group accused of raping a Cornell University student in October 2024, reportedly claimed he was too intoxicated to consent to sexual activity with his accuser.
The claim adds a new dimension to an already sensitive case that has seen lots of visceral reactions and reignited conversations about consent, drug abuse, and rape culture on college campuses.
The alleged victim in this Cornell case, identified as Jane Doe, filed a civil lawsuit in September 2026 alleging she was drugged and sexually assaulted over several hours at the Chi Phi fraternity house.
Matthew Ingalls Of The Cornell 7 Claimed To Be The Real Victim
Matthew Ingalls alleges that Lucy Craig raped him as he was too intoxicated to consent.
Follow: @AFpost https://t.co/amZYmvQbnS
— AF Post (@AFpost) October 5, 2026
Records obtained by ABC News showed that Matthew Ingalls, one of the Cornell 7, told Cornell University police that he consumed too much alcohol and ketamine and was the one not in any state to consent to intercourse.
He suggested that because of his own level of intoxication, he was the one who was taken advantage of by Jane Doe, as he was too mentally incapacitated to know what was happening on that unfortunate drunken night.
Ingalls was also reportedly the fraternity member who allegedly invited Doe to the frat house and proposed a threesome. The encounter would later involve several frat members who wanted their turn with her.
He claimed to not have realized his accuser wasn’t sober when she arrived. “You did tell me you were sober. You did, you said you hadn’t been anywhere,” Ingalls said on a call, obtained by ABC, per the New York Post.
A message exchanged in the fraternity group chat with almost 60 people has also been linked to him. He allegedly wrote, “Like you can walk in and whip it out. Boys come whip it out.” Another message in the chat read, “free p-ssy.”
Jane Doe’s Account And Allegations Against The Cornell 7
Cornell University President Michael I. Kotlikoff said Saturday his school’s administration “must do better” amid the criticism and fallout of its investigation into allegations made by a former student that she was gang-raped at a fraternity in 2024. He said he welcomes the independent review by an outside law firm into aspects of the university’s handling of the 2024 incident.
“I want to acknowledge something that can be difficult for an institution to say: we don’t have all the answers, but we are committed to investigating and finding the answers our community deserves,” Kotlikoff said. He also said the board of trustees will announce the private investigation next week.
— CBS News (@CBSNews) October 4, 2026
In Doe’s civil lawsuit, she alleges that she arrived at the Chi Phi house already “10 shots deep” in intoxication and that the situation escalated after she was exposed to more alcohol and ketamine.
CBS News reported on her account of the night based on text messages, campus police interviews, and Cornell’s Title IX investigation. In the report, Doe said she had been drinking vodka at her sorority house that night.
Doe, who was underage at the time, was served more alcohol at a bar in downtown Ithaca, New York, close to Cornell before going to the frat house where she described being involved in sexual encounters while she was increasingly impaired.
She said, “I had become extremely uncomfortable with how this night was turning out, so my thought was, if I do ketamine again, maybe I will pass out.”
Doe implied that she believed passing out from the drug would end the “uncomfortable” experience because, as she put it, “if I passed out and these men have sex with me, then they could have been charged with rape at this point.”
She reportedly lost consciousness around 5:45 am. In the days after, she was reportedly in shock and told a roommate, “I wasn’t comfortable,” and was said not to have processed what happened to her at the time.
Doe said she only realized she had been “gang raped“ after she saw comments on an online forum in a Chi Phi section talking about people who had gang raped a sophomore.
In September 2026, she filed her civil lawsuit against the seven men dubbed the “Cornell 7”, Cornell University, and the Chi Phi fraternity.
Several Celebrities Have Reacted To The ‘Horrific Act’
As reported by Variety, British actress Florence Pugh described the incident as an “horrific act” and asked that men “be angry” for women and lead conversations that lead to change in such behaviors.
In her Instagram post, she said, “After reading about the young woman who was gang raped at her college by her friend and school peers, I’m feeling uneasy and sick and anxious.”
She said she hated the idea that such a thing was happening repeatedly and that “This is really the moment where we need our men to be as horrified and as sickened as us.”
Pugh asserted that there is no “equality” until women’s bodies are respected and until women can say they feel safe. She ends her statement saying, “We are the life force of this earth, start f-cking protecting us. Be angry for us. Please.”
Olivia Rodrigo also weighed in on the situation and said, “I stand with Jane Doe. Her bravery reverberates across the country and the crimes against her will not go unpunished.”
“What she lived through matters,” she continued, per Cover Media. “And so does the failure of those who could have intervened but chose not to. She deserves answers, consequences, and lasting change.”
Donald Trump Says Cornell 7 ‘Won’t Get A Fair Shake’
President Donald Trump spoke about the case and criticized the appointment of New York AG Letitia James as a prosecutor in the rape case.
According to The Hill, Trump told reporters that “Letitia James is a corrupt person,” and argued that the people she’s prosecuting, in this case the Cornell 7, “won’t get a fair shake.”
The president, who has previously been investigated and sued by James, made the comments hours after New York Gov. Kathy Hochul appointed her as a special prosecutor to the case.
Letitia James Takes Over Cornell 7 Case Investigation
Governor Hochul appointed James to oversee the criminal investigation into the alleged gang rape at Cornell University after she had reportedly lost faith in the ability of local authorities to handle the case.
According to CBC’s transcript of Hochul’s statements, the governor invoked her power to enlist the Attorney General because James would “follow the facts. She’ll examine the evidence and go wherever it leads.”
James, in a press conference standing alongside Hochul, said, “I stand ready to lead a process guided by the facts and the law.”
She added that her office will “review the facts, gather evidence, interview witnesses, and, if warranted, pursue prosecutions.”
