Court records and text messages have provided new insight into how a Cornell University fraternity brother responded following allegations of a 2024 gang rape at the Chi Phi house. Scott Kretzschmar, now 22, was one of seven fraternity members named in a lawsuit stemming from the incident. Kretzschmar filed documents anonymously in Tompkins County Supreme Court earlier this year in an effort to overturn Cornell’s decision finding him responsible for attempted sexual exploitation following a Title IX investigation. According to the documents, Kretzschmar entered a room where the alleged assault took place after seeing a Snapchat post. He maintained that he never saw the accuser, referred to as Jane Doe, naked or in distress, and denied using ketamine or participating in any assault. The university investigation involved a 12-day internal federal civil rights proceeding with more than 30 witnesses and 50 interviews. The probe found that a photo of Jane Doe was shared in a Snapchat group among active members. While criminal charges were not brought by the local district attorney’s office, the Title IX process resulted in varied penalties for the seven students, ranging from reflection papers to expulsion. Kretzschmar received sanctions that included writing a reflection paper and helping create educational programming on social media use and bystander intervention, though he was not expelled and graduated last year. Text messages obtained by NBC News detailed Jane Doe’s immediate aftermath, showing her fluctuating between distress over campus gossip and communicating with fraternity members before reporting the incident to campus police. Attorneys for both Kretzschmar and Jane Doe offered contrasting views on the events, highlighting the ongoing legal and administrative fallout from the case.
Source: nbcnews.com
