EAST BERLIN, Pa. (AP) — An American accused of sexually assaulting a college student in 2013 and later sending her a Facebook message that said “So I raped you” was ordered held without bail Friday during a court hearing in Pennsylvania.
The appearance by Ian Cleary, 31, of Saratoga, California, came a day after he arrived back in the U.S. He was detained in April in Metz, France, after a three-year search, and a French appeals court later said he could be extradited. He appeared by video and without a lawyer at the preliminary arraignment.
District Judge Tony J. Little in East Berlin made the detainment decision, citing a request by the Adams County District Attorney’s Office, which argued that Cleary had no ties to the area and had been in France with no work or permanent address. Prosecutors also noted financial resources available to him through his family.
Cleary appeared relatively calm during the hearing and spoke only briefly to answer questions from the judge. The next hearing was scheduled for Jan. 29.
Former Gettysburg College student Shannon Keeler, who pursued the case for more than a decade, said Thursday that Cleary’s extradition gave her “renewed faith” in the justice system.
Cleary was the subject of an international search after authorities in Pennsylvania issued an arrest warrant in the case in 2021, weeks after an Associated Press story detailed the reluctance of local prosecutors to pursue campus sex crimes.
The warrant accused Cleary of stalking the 18-year-old Keeler at a campus party in 2013, sneaking into her dorm and sexually assaulting her while she texted friends for help. He was a 20-year-old Gettysburg student at the time but did not return to campus.
Keeler underwent a rape exam the same day. She gathered witnesses and evidence and spent years urging officials to file charges. She went to authorities again in 2021 after discovering the Facebook messages that seemed to come from Cleary’s account.
“So I raped you,” the sender wrote in a string of messages.
“I’ll never do it to anyone ever again.”
“I need to hear your voice.”
“I’ll pray for you.”
According to the warrant, police verified that the Facebook account used to send the messages belonged to Cleary.
The AP does not typically identify sexual assault victims without their permission, which Keeler has granted.
Keeler’s lawyer, Andrea Levy, called it “a relief” to see Cleary in custody after so long and thanked law enforcement officials for their efforts to find him.
“In this case, accountability has been delayed for so long,” she said after the hearing. “Shannon is incredibly grateful.”
“She persevered. Many would not have had the wherewithal to pursue this for 11 years,” Levy said.
Cleary, who grew up in Silicon Valley, later earned undergraduate and graduate degrees in California, worked for Telsa, moved to Europe and self-published several books of medieval fiction, according to his social media and other online posts. His mother lives in Baltimore, he told the judge Friday.
A woman who answered his mother’s phone Thursday disconnected a reporter’s call. Phone numbers listed for his father were no longer working.
