The View cohost Sunny Hostin is defending a district attorney for not bringing charges against several Cornell University fraternity members accused of gang raping a fellow student in 2024.
“I have the statement that Jane Doe wrote at that time. It’s several pages long,” Hostin, 57, claimed during the Tuesday, September 29, episode of ABC’s hit daytime talk show. “I will say that under current New York state law, voluntary intoxication or drug use — and she voluntarily drank a lot and she voluntarily snorted ketamine off of one of the boy’s body parts — she allowed other boys and consented to other boys snorting ketamine off of her body.”
The former federal prosecutor continued, “Under New York law, voluntary intoxication 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 Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten didn’t bring charges to a group of fraternity brothers after the alleged 2024 assault.
“If you voluntarily ingest drugs, voluntarily take alcohol, you can agree to have threesomes, which, in her statement, she agreed to have two separate threesomes,” Hostin claimed. “One young man did walk in and say, ‘Everybody out.’ So there was one person who did that. According to her statement, three of the young men did not touch her.”
In the wake of her polarizing take, Hostin made it clear that Jane Doe’s new lawsuit should absolutely be investigated and taken seriously.
At the same time, she advised viewers during The View’s Hot Topics segment to investigate more than just headlines before jumping to conclusions.
“I say all of that to say the pictures of these young men who have not been charged — not been adjudicated — are being plastered all over the internet,” she said. “I think people are reporting this story inaccurately. I think they’re reporting it unfairly.”
Hostin continued, “While this is something that we have to take very seriously, there is no way, according to her statement in 2024, that any prosecutor would’ve brought forth a case.”
Jane Doe, a former student at the Ivy League school, sued Cornell and seven male 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 leaked messages from a snapchat group message advertising “free p****,” the derogatory term for female genitalia, at the time of the alleged assault.
Attorneys representing the named fraternity members have vigorously denied the claims in the lawsuit.
“Jane Doe’s sworn statement in November of 2024 did not allege that she was drugged against her will or gang raped. On the contrary, Jane Doe’s statement described her participation in drug use and sexual conduct as voluntary, conscious, and consensual,” Van Houten said in a statement. “My office obviously 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. Furthermore, I have never been contacted by Jane Doe’s attorneys.”
The attorney for Jane Doe has disputed Van Houten’s description of the alleged victim’s initial statement and faulted authorities for never following up with his client.
“In my experience, speaking with an abuse survivor requires delicacy, understanding and specialized training,” attorney Thomas P. Giuffra told ABC News. “An average University Police officer would not have these skills. It would be the role of a specially trained detective or district attorney. However, Ms. Doe was never contacted by anybody with those skills.”
Cornell University said in a statement that it takes allegations of sexual violence “extremely seriously” and that its Office of Civil Rights and Office of Student Conduct and Community Standards “investigated and adjudicated the allegations consistent with university policies.”
“Any suggestion that the University did not impose consequential punishments for those involved is false,” Cornell said in September via ABC News. “A continuation of the false narrative that there were minimal consequences in this case is irresponsible, will make survivors feel less safe and supported, and will perpetuate the underreporting of sexual assault.”
If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).
