A California resident, Ian Cleary, 31, is being extradited back to the United States to face charges of sexually assaulting a Pennsylvania college student in 2013. Cleary was arrested in April in Metz, France, after a three-year search and has been held in custody pending extradition proceedings. The accuser, Shannon Keeler, was 18 years old at the time of the assault and reported the crime to authorities immediately after it occurred. However, it took several years for Cleary to be charged and for the case to move forward.
According to the warrant, Cleary allegedly stalked Keeler at a party, sneaked into her dorm, and sexually assaulted her while she texted friends for help. Keeler had a rape exam done the same day and gathered witnesses and evidence, but it took her years to convince officials to file charges. In 2021, she discovered Facebook messages that seemed to come from Cleary’s account, including the message “So I raped you.”
Cleary allegedly sent the messages in 2020 while Keeler and her boyfriend were on a weekend trip. Police verified that the Facebook account used to send the messages belonged to Cleary. He is scheduled to face criminal charges in a Pennsylvania courtroom and is expected to be arraigned soon.