DETROIT – A Southeast Michigan man is among the seven Cornell University fraternity members accused of sexually assaulting a female student in 2024.
The lawsuit, filed on Sept. 16 in Tompkins County, New York, names Scott Kretzchmar and six other students.
Known Michigan connections
Kretzchmar is originally from Southeast Michigan and went to high school in St. Clair County, several sources confirmed to Local 4.
Kretzchmar attended Marine City High School and graduated in 2022. He was class president.
The suit alleges Kretzchmar and six other members of the Xi chapter of the Chi Phi fraternity forced a woman to use drugs and sexually assaulted her for several hours on the night of Oct. 19, 2024, and into the morning of Oct. 20, 2024.
Scott Kretzchmar lawsuit mentions
The specific mentions of Kretzchmar in the lawsuit allege he snorted ketamine off of the body of the woman – and allege he sent messages on Snapchat included in the photo below under his name.
Attorneys speak
“Multiple frat members knew about it,” Thomas Giuffra, the attorney for Jane Doe, said. “Multiple frat members participated in it, multiple times. They plyed her with ketamine.”
“Nobody would be proud of words that can be construed as really ugly, nasty things, but we can also recognize that saying things and typing immature things are not the same as committing sex crimes,” Jeremy Saland, the attorney for Kretzschmar said.
Southeast Michigan connections
If viewers follow social media, they may be aware of some of Kretzchmar’s possible connections across Metro Detroit.
The Investigators at Local 4 have reached out to those agencies asking for statements, including the city of Sterling Heights, which said on Tuesday that the city “does not, and has never, employed an individual by the name of Scott Kretzschmar.”
Additionally, Local 4 has reached out to Kretzchmar’s attorneys, and we are waiting to hear back.
The Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten released a new statement.
“Jane Doe’s sworn statement in November of 2024 did not allege that she was drugged against her will or gang raped,” the statement said. “On the contrary, Jane Doe’s statement described her participation in drug use and sexual conduct as voluntary, conscious, and consensual. My office obviously did not and could not have based our November 2024 decision on the allegations in a civil lawsuit that would not be filed until nearly two years later. Furthermore, I have never been contacted by Jane Doe’s attorneys. Not to inform me the original statement was inaccurate and not to ask me to reconsider our decision. Rather, I reached out to Jane Doe’s attorneys after the lawsuit was filed to understand the discrepancy between the original statement and the lawsuit’s allegations and the proper path forward in light of the lawsuit’s allegations.”
This story will be updated with any responses we receive.
