Report: Cornell Police Omitted Student Rape Claim From Summary Sent to Prosecutor

Internal records show that Cornell University's campus police omitted a student's rape claim from a summary sent to the local prosecutor, according to a report by Anadolu Agency.

The records reportedly show that campus authorities excluded the survivor's "unequivocal testimony" from the summary before the district attorney initially declined to bring criminal charges, the report said.

Questions over campus police handling

The Anadolu Agency report did not specify when the alleged assault took place, nor did it name the survivor or the officers involved in preparing the summary sent to prosecutors. It also did not detail whether the case has since been reopened or whether charges have since been filed.

The report is part of broader reporting on how Cornell's campus police handled sexual assault allegations, raising questions about the completeness of information provided to outside law enforcement and prosecutors in such cases.

Cornell University, based in Ithaca, New York, has faced scrutiny in the past over its handling of sexual misconduct complaints, as have many US universities under federal Title IX requirements governing campus sexual assault investigations.

The university did not appear to be quoted directly in the material reviewed responding to the specific findings described in the report.