Cornell Probe Gets New Leader

Residents of the Ithaca area will see a change in leadership for the criminal investigation into alleged gang rapes at Cornell University. New York Attorney General Letitia James announced on Wednesday that Jacqueline Kelly will serve as outside counsel for the probe. Kelly is a former federal prosecutor who previously handled high-profile cases involving Sean Combs and Peter Nygård.

The investigation reopened after a former student filed a lawsuit in September. The lawsuit claims several men raped her at a fraternity party in October 2024. James, who was appointed as the special prosecutor for this matter by Governor Kathy Hochul last month, will oversee Kelly’s work. James won a third term in office the day before she made this announcement.

Kelly will lead a team of lawyers and investigators from her firm, Boies Schiller Flexner, and the attorney general’s office. Their tasks include gathering evidence, interviewing witnesses, and reviewing investigative records. They will report directly to James. The two men named as defendants in the lawsuit have asked a judge to remove James from the case. They argue she is biased because of a social media post she shared before her appointment that supported the accuser.

In a statement, James described Kelly as a seasoned prosecutor who has overseen numerous cases from investigation through trial. James expressed confidence that Kelly would lead a fair and comprehensive investigation. Kelly is a graduate of Columbia Law School and spent nearly a decade in the Manhattan U.S. Attorney’s Office. She led the civil rights unit and handled cases involving sex crimes, hate crimes, and voting rights violations.

Kelly left the federal government last year to join Boies Schiller Flexner. She will remain at the firm while conducting the Cornell investigation. Kelly said all New Yorkers deserve a fair and thorough inquiry into the facts of the case. She noted she looks forward to using her experience as a federal prosecutor to examine all available evidence for the Office of the Attorney General.

Governor Hochul appointed James as special prosecutor on October 1. Hochul said she had lost faith in Matthew Van Houten, the Tompkins County District Attorney. Van Houten declined to bring charges in 2024 but said he would restart the investigation. A lawyer for the accuser stated that Van Houten was preparing to bring the matter to a grand jury within two weeks. James has said her own investigation will take months.

The former student, identified in court papers as Jane Doe, alleged that the men pressured her into using ketamine and marijuana. She said she also drank alcohol that left her too intoxicated to consent. She reported the incident to campus police and the university’s Title IX office a few weeks later. The case raised questions about how universities and local prosecutors respond to campus sexual assaults.

Cornell hired former U.S. Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates last month to review the school’s handling of sexual assault cases. Yates will examine the disciplinary process and the campus police response. As a federal prosecutor, Kelly supervised the prosecution of Ricardo Cruciani, a neurologist who killed himself in jail. She also prosecuted Jesus Concepcion, a music teacher sentenced to 30 years in prison in 2024 for sexually abusing five students. Kelly also took on the Lucchese crime family, prosecuting a dozen members. Her firm represents victims of sexual assault and other crimes, including those associated with the late Jeffrey Epstein.