What happened
Caleb Suh, a former West Point cadet, has admitted in federal court that he secretly gave abortion medication to his girlfriend against her wishes, causing her to miscarry. He pleaded guilty in June to assault in connection with the March 2022 incident, according to court records and a new civil lawsuit reported by CNN.
Prosecutors said the victim was a cadet one class below Suh. She was 19. She wanted to have the baby, and Suh did not. Suh told the judge he posed as her to open an online pharmacy account and order the drugs. He also got Xanax from a friend to use as a sedative, and he gave her what she believed was a prenatal protein shake. After she fell asleep, he gave her the pills orally and vaginally.
The lawsuit says he then left her alone and incapacitated. When she woke up bleeding, it says, he did not respond to her efforts to reach him. She called 911 and was hospitalized. The suit says that during her treatment, Suh returned to the pharmacy's website to ask whether doctors could detect the pills. The New York Times first reported the lawsuit.
The lawsuit and the response
The woman filed the suit on October 28 in a New York court under the alias Jane Doe. It seeks unspecified damages. Her lawyer, Russell Kornblith, said she has suffered "a life-changing event that she is still dealing with and will be dealing with for the rest of her life."
Kornblith added: "We hope that by our client coming forward with this lawsuit, it will, at least, ensure that this never happens to anyone else." He would not say whether she graduated from West Point or what she does now.
Suh is awaiting sentencing. In June he told the court he was "deeply and immeasurably sorry for my actions and the pain that I have caused." His lawyer, Thomas Kenniff, declined to comment.
What the schools knew
The woman reported Suh to the Army Criminal Investigation Division at West Point in May 2022, according to her suit. Assistant US Attorney Marcia Cohen told the court in June that Suh had told a West Point investigator the miscarriage was accidental and denied ordering abortion medication. West Point did not provide details on the investigation's findings or outcome, and it is unclear whether he faced any discipline there.
Federal charges were filed in Manhattan in June. Before that, Suh transferred to Cornell during the 2023-2024 school year. Cornell said in a statement that he answered "no" when asked on his application whether he had been found responsible for a disciplinary violation at a previous school. The university said West Point reported that he was in good academic standing and eligible to return.
At Cornell, he was recognized for his writing in spring 2024 and became involved with the Cornell Center for Health Equity. He wrote on its site that he hoped to become a physician. He also briefly worked at Cornell's medical school and left several months ago, the university said. He is listed among the authors of a medical journal report on a 2025 conference about cardiopulmonary resuscitation.
This September he began a master's program at Columbia's Mailman School of Public Health, his lawyer told the federal judge. Columbia declined to comment, citing educational privacy laws, and his current status there is unclear. A person familiar with the matter, who was not authorized to speak publicly, said Mailman applicants are not asked about criminal records but are asked about student conduct violations or poor academic performance. According to that person, Suh's application did not mention any disciplinary proceedings.
What happens next
Suh's sentencing was recently pushed back to January at his lawyer's request so he could complete his semester at Columbia. Prosecutors did not oppose the delay and declined to comment. Kenniff also told the court in a letter last month that Suh has been taking a three-month life skills course for people charged with federal crimes.
The lawsuit comes amid broader national scrutiny of how colleges handle misconduct complaints. Cornell has faced criticism since a former student sued, alleging that several men raped her at a fraternity house in 2024 and that the university did too little after she reported it.
