Judge Phaedra Perry-Bond ruled the Cornell plaintiff may keep proceeding as Jane Doe.

Friday's order is about the name on the civil caption. It does not decide whether the allegations are true, and it does not file a criminal charge. CBS News reported the judge invited a request to extend anonymity to the defendants. That invitation does not take their names off the docket until a judge signs an order that does.

ABC News and CBS News reported Friday, Oct. 23, 2026, that Judge Phaedra Perry-Bond ruled the former Cornell student known in the court file as Jane Doe may continue her civil lawsuit without being publicly named. ABC News reported permission to use a pseudonym is not automatic, and that Perry-Bond said "the notoriety of the allegations and widespread reports of certain malicious actors' behavior" warranted it. CBS News reported she cited how public the allegations have become, concerns about retaliation and threats, and the harm that could follow from identifying the plaintiff. CNY Central reported the request came from her lawyer and that none of the defendants opposed it. CNY Central called her Justice Phaedra Perry-Bond of the New York Supreme Court and said the order covers the duration of the trial. ABC News and CBS News described a civil lawsuit, not a criminal trial. The woman is not being named here.

The order came with a warning. ABC News reported Perry-Bond wrote: "While the Court is cognizant that some members of the public have made it their mission to try and identify Jane Doe, and have likewise tried to use what they believe to be Jane Doe's identity to harass and threaten certain individuals allegedly tied to her, the Court issues the following words of caution: cyberstalking and engaging in or encouraging threats across state lines, whether it be of Jane Doe, any of the named defendants, or their attorneys, can be considered a federal crime and perpetrators of those acts may be subjecting themselves to prosecution." CNY Central reported she said cyberstalking, harassment, and making or encouraging threats across state lines against Jane Doe, the defendants, or their lawyers can be federal and state crimes. CBS News reported she warned that cyberstalking, harassment, or threats against Jane Doe, the defendants, or their attorneys could lead to criminal prosecution. Those are three accounts of the same caution. A warning in an order is not a charge against any particular person.

What the public file may still show, and what the defense may still learn, are not the same thing. CBS News reported the ruling requires court filings to conceal Jane Doe's identity and other sensitive personal information, and that defendants may privately share identifying information when they need it to investigate and prepare a defense, if confidentiality protections apply. CNY Central reported she said the identity may have to be disclosed in private during discovery to medical providers, employers, insurers, government agencies, or potential witnesses, if those people agree to keep it confidential. CBS News reported Perry-Bond suggested the anonymity designation "should likewise be extended" to the defendants and that she would welcome such a filing. ABC News and CNY Central did not report that invitation. A suggestion that defense lawyers may ask for the same protection is not an order that their names are sealed.

The ruling does not decide the lawsuit. CBS News reported it does not address whether the sexual-assault allegations are true or whether any defendant is liable. ABC News reported the civil suit alleges she was drugged and sexually assaulted at the Chi Phi fraternity house in October 2024, and that all seven men named in it have denied wrongdoing. CBS News reported the same denial and reported no finding of liability. ABC News reported no criminal charges have been filed, that Attorney General Letitia James is investigating after Gov. Kathy Hochul appointed her, and that Cornell has said it supports that appointment and is reviewing its own response. ABC News reported her lawyer, Thomas Giuffra, has previously said she and her family have faced threats and harassment. That is his earlier account. Friday's order keeps a pseudonym on the civil case. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.