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One of the seven Cornell fraternity brothers accused of taking part in a student’s gang-rape is fighting to be dropped from her lawsuit — dismissing the disturbing allegations against him as “a forced kiss.”
Diego Sarabia denies the allegations against him outlined in Jane Doe’s bombshell lawsuit last month, in which she alleges she was gang-raped at a drug-fueled Chi Phi party in 2024.
His attorneys filed a motion for dismissal in New York state court Friday because Doe’s lawsuit does not identify him as a rapist, just someone who snorted ketamine off her body and disturbingly grabbed her face for an unwanted kiss.
“As far as defendant goes, this is essentially a lawsuit about an allegedly forced kiss,” Sarabia’s attorney, James C. Knox, claimed in the dismissive motion.
Even if the allegations were true, Knox argued, Doe’s claims were filed beyond the statute of limitations or are legally insufficient, NBC reported.
“Throughout a sprawling complaint approaching 600 paragraphs, plaintiff repeatedly, collectively and without differentiation accuses seven student defendants of ‘sexual assault and rape,’” Knox wrote in his filing.
“Those legally conclusory statements do not substitute for pleaded facts,” he added.
Doe accused Sarabia of grabbing her face, kissing her and snorting ketamine off her body with other fraternity members during the alleged sexual assault.
But she did not accuse Sarabia of having sex with her or supplying the drugs, Knox said.
The attorney additionally claimed that the assault, battery and intentional inflection of emotional distress claims were barred by a one-year statute of limitations that did not qualify for the legal extensions cited in the complaint.
“An unconsented-to kiss does not constitute any of the listed offenses, and plaintiff cannot simply circumvent the statute of limitations by relying on generalized, collective accusations of ‘rape and sexual assault’ that are otherwise unsupported by, and inconsistent with, her own factual allegations,” Knox said.
Here’s the latest on the ‘Cornell 7’ frat probe:
- ‘Cornell 7’ Jane Doe drops case against man she mis-ID’d as fraternity president
- ‘Cornell 7’ accuser rips into university president’s response to gang rape allegations
- ‘Cornell 7’ rape accuser claims she faced bizarre accusation in newly resurfaced text messages
- Polymarket removes bets on ‘Cornell 7’ gang-rape case as activists target LeBron James, celebrity endorsers
“In short,” Knox concluded, “plaintiff has filed a sensational complaint that repeatedly concludes defendant is a rapist, but her alleged facts, even if accepted as true, describe something entirely different.
“Because plaintiff’s actual claims against defendant are time-barred, inadequately pleaded, or both,
the complaint must be dismissed in its entirety.”
Sarabia reportedly lost his job at the Charlotte, NC branch of Wells Fargo, where he had worked since 2022, after Attorney General Letitia James announced that the state was launching a new criminal investigation into the alleged sexual assault.