Cornell Accused of Ignoring Reports of Former Student’s Alleged Repeated Sexual Assaults
Cornell UniversityCredit: Anna Moneymaker/Getty
A 2023 lawsuit accuses a former Cornell University student of sexually assaulting two female students
The lawsuit was filed against former student Esat Braveboy, Cornell University and its board of trustees
According to the lawsuit obtained by PEOPLE, Cornell allowed Braveboy “unfettered and unsupervised access to be alone with students and commit unlawful sexual acts on their property”
A civil lawsuit filed in 2023 accuses a former Cornell University student of sexually assaulting two female students while he was an undergraduate.
The complaint, which was obtained by PEOPLE, alleges the assaults by Esat Braveboy occurred between 2018 and 2022 on the Ithaca, N.Y. campus of the Ivy League institution.
The lawsuit was filed against Braveboy, Cornell University and its board of trustees. It claims Cornell allowed Braveboy “unfettered and unsupervised access to be alone with students and commit unlawful sexual acts on their property” and “authorized, permitted and allowed Braveboy to use its facility to perform physical abuse, assault, battery, drug-facilitated sexual assault, rape and to sodomize students.”
“Throughout his enrollment in the school and on campus, Braveboy sexually abused, sexually assaulted, and perpetrated egregious sexual misconduct against college students, specifically on the plaintiffs,” the lawsuit alleges.
Cornell University campusCredit: Anna Moneymaker/Getty
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According to the lawsuit — which claims sexual assault, battery and negligence — the university “continued to allow Braveboy to commit sexual abuse against Plaintiffs and others” even after the alleged victims filed Title IX complaints.
The lawsuit also alleges other women on campus were abused by Braveboy.
“At least five-ten others have been sexually abused by Braveboy on campus, and it is believed that many more were abused but have yet to come forward,” it continues.
“Cornell has a history of these sexual assaults and rapes happening ... there is a problem there,” attorney Michael S. Lamonsoff tells PEOPLE. “We were able to bring this lawsuit to give these women some form of justice.”
In a 2025 Cornell survey, 35% of undergraduate women said they had experienced nonconsensual sexual contact, up from 23% in 2023.
Additionally, the lawsuit claims Cornell failed to properly investigate reports of sexual misconduct and notify the proper authorities upon learning of the alleged abuse.
In a statement to PEOPLE, a Cornell University spokesperson said, “Cornell disputes any assertion that it failed to investigate reported sexual misconduct and absolutely rejects any assertion that it would have failed to act in response to multiple reports of such misconduct. The university has no further comment on this pending litigation.”
Braveboy’s attorney Keith White said his client’s “filed answer denies the allegations of sexual assault and battery.”
“We will address the claims through the court process,” White said in an email to PEOPLE. “Out of respect for that process and everyone involved, we will not comment further on the underlying allegations.”
In September, a former undergraduate student, identified as Jane Doe, filed a civil lawsuit against Cornell and seven Chi Phi fraternity members.
She alleged that she was drugged and sexually assaulted for hours after going to the Chi Phi fraternity house on the university’s campus on the evening of Oct. 19, 2024.
The case sparked backlash against university officials, police and prosecutors about their handling of the case.
If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, please contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) or go torainn.org.
Source: Crime
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