The New York attorney general’s office has tapped a former federal prosecutor with experience in sex crimes cases to lead the criminal investigation into sexual assault allegations at Cornell University.
Cornell graduate Jacqueline Kelly will have decision-making authority to investigate allegations by Jane Doe, a former Cornell student who alleged seven male students. sexually assaulted her at a Chi Phi fraternity party in 2024. They have denied any wrongdoing.
New York Attorney General Letitia James said in a statement announcing her appointment Wednesday that her office was engaging in an investigation “guided solely by the facts, the evidence and the law.”
James said Kelly “is a seasoned prosecutor who has overseen numerous cases from investigation to trial. With her criminal legal expertise, commitment to public service and judicial experience, I am confident she will conduct a fair and complete investigation.”
Kelly’s appointment comes a month after New York Gov. Kathy Hochul issued an executive order designating James as a special prosecutor because she had “lost confidence” in the Tompkins County district attorney, who had previously reviewed the case without filing charges. The allegations and scrutiny of how Cornell handled them have focused national attention on sexual assault on college campuses.
“All New Yorkers deserve a fair and thorough investigation into the facts of this case,” Kelly said in the attorney general’s statement.
At the time of Hochul’s announcement, officials with the attorney general’s office said they would appoint an outside attorney to lead the investigation and present evidence to a grand jury, if warranted. The office previously appointed an outside attorney to investigate civil allegations of sexual harassment filed by former Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
The office’s criminal authority is limited to investigating police-involved shootings, financial crimes and organized crime. Kelly’s experience will bring specialized skills to a sex crime investigation.
Kelly was the first head of the civil rights unit created within the criminal division of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Manhattan in 2021. Until leaving office last year, Kelly oversaw the criminal investigations of Sean “Diddy” Combs, who was acquitted of sex trafficking but convicted of transportation to engage in prostitution charges; Peter Nygard, a Canadian fashion designer accused of sex trafficking of women and minors; and Ricardo Cruciani, a prominent doctor accused of sexually abusing numerous patients. She also handled organized crime cases.
Kelly will remain a partner at the New York law firm Boies Schiller, which she joined last year, and will lead the team at the attorney general’s office and its law firm, according to the release. Boies Schiller has represented several Jeffrey Epstein survivors in civil litigation, including one of the most vocal, Virginia Roberts Giuffre, who died by suicide last year.
It is unclear whether the appointment will have any impact on legal challenges raised by two of the seven students accused of assaulting Doe. In separate challenges, the two Cornell students argued that James was biased in favor of Doe based on statements she made days before her nomination.
On September 28, James wrote on
Last week, a New York state judge questioned a lawyer for the attorney general about that statement and James’ appearance alongside Hochul at a news conference on Oct. 2, as the governor expressed support for Doe.
A lawyer for the attorney general’s office said it was not an “impediment” to an investigation and that the students’ allegations of bias were unfounded. James, she said, would respect the facts and the law.
The judge was also skeptical of the student’s motion because none of the other defendants supported it. He gave the lawyer until Thursday for attorneys for the other students to sign or present legal arguments explaining why the case should not be dismissed on technical and legal grounds.
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