DIEGO SARABIA SEEKS DISMISSAL OF CORNELL ASSAULT CLAIMS

Diego Sarabia has asked a judge to dismiss claims against him in a lawsuit alleging a gang rape in Ithaca, New York. His lawyers filed the motion on Friday in a case brought in September by a former Cornell University student identified as Jane Doe. Doe named Sarabia among seven men she accuses of taking part in the alleged assault. Sarabia denies all the allegations against him, according to the filing. His lawyers argue that the complaint lacks facts to support its accusations of rape and sexual assault against him.

Doe alleges that Sarabia grabbed her face and kissed her without consent at the former Chi Phi fraternity house. She also alleges that he snorted ketamine off her body alongside other fraternity members. Her lawsuit places the alleged events in October 2024 and describes drug and alcohol use. Sarabia’s lawyers say Doe does not allege that he supplied either drugs or alcohol. They also say she does not allege that he took part in the other sexual acts described in the complaint.

Sarabia’s lawyers argue that a one-year filing deadline applies to the assault, battery and intentional infliction of emotional distress claims against him. They contend that the extensions Doe cites in her lawsuit do not apply to those claims. The filing says the complaint, which approaches 600 paragraphs, repeatedly groups the seven defendants together in its accusations. “Those legally conclusory statements do not substitute for pleaded facts,” the lawyers wrote.