The newly reported conversation provides another account of what happened at the Chi Phi house as authorities revisit the case.
ITHACA, NY — A former Cornell University student known publicly as Jane Doe secretly recorded a phone conversation with a Chi Phi fraternity member she later accused of sexually assaulting her, providing new details about their differing recollections of a night that is now the subject of renewed criminal scrutiny.
The call took place in November 2024, weeks after an Oct. 19 encounter at the Chi Phi fraternity house and shortly before Doe went to Cornell University police. ABC News, which obtained the recording, reported Monday that Doe was trying to reconstruct what happened as she questioned the fraternity member about who had been in the room. The man maintained that an initial sexual encounter had been consensual. Doe’s civil lawsuit alleges she was too intoxicated and later incapacitated to consent to sexual activity involving multiple men.
During the recorded conversation, Doe told the fraternity member that she was struggling to piece together the night. She also questioned him about other men she remembered seeing in the room. According to ABC News, the man suggested that their memories could be inaccurate. Doe disputed that explanation, saying she remembered looking up and seeing what she believed were too many people in the room. At another point, she told him that what she believed had happened could be classified as a gang rape.
The fraternity member was identified by ABC News as Matthew Ingalls, who police records say invited Doe to the fraternity house. Ingalls has not been charged with a crime and has previously denied wrongdoing, according to ABC News. During Cornell’s investigation, he also said he was too intoxicated to consent and alleged that Doe had assaulted him, according to university records reviewed by the network. Other men named in Doe’s civil lawsuit have also denied wrongdoing or denied participating in nonconsensual sexual activity.
Doe was 20 at the time of the alleged assault. Her lawsuit, filed Sept. 16, accuses seven current or former Chi Phi members of sexually assaulting her after she had consumed alcohol and drugs. She has said that an initial sexual encounter involved two men and that she later became incapacitated as additional men entered the room. Records from her 2024 interview with campus police show that she described parts of the encounter as coercive and said she was confident she had been raped.
The recorded conversation is significant because it predates Doe’s report to campus police and captures her questioning one of the men about the events. ABC News reported that Doe recorded calls with at least three fraternity members and that the recordings were later provided to university investigators. Her attorney has said she made the recordings to preserve information while trying to understand what had happened.
Other communications reviewed by news organizations show that some fraternity members discussed Doe and the developing allegations after the night at Chi Phi. ABC News reported that students later described some of those efforts to university authorities as “damage control.” The records also show Doe’s own description of the night developing as she tried to reconstruct events. Those communications have become part of the broader examination of how the allegations were investigated and handled.
Cornell conducted an internal investigation that included 50 interviews with 32 witnesses and hearings before a university panel. The university has said sanctions resulting from its process included expulsions and suspensions, though federal student privacy requirements have limited what Cornell has publicly disclosed about individual disciplinary decisions. The Chi Phi chapter was suspended after Doe’s report and remains barred from campus.
No one has been criminally charged in connection with Doe’s allegations. Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten initially declined to pursue charges but reopened the investigation in September 2026 after Doe filed her civil lawsuit. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul subsequently appointed Attorney General Letitia James as a special prosecutor in the matter. Cornell has also agreed to an independent review of how the university handled the allegations.
The renewed investigation comes as Cornell faces protests and questions from students, faculty and the public over its response to the case. The newly disclosed recording does not by itself resolve the conflicting accounts of what happened inside the fraternity house. The allegations remain disputed, and the criminal investigation and Doe’s civil lawsuit are pending.
Author note: Last updated October 5, 2026.