A California man who attacked a fellow Pennsylvania college student in 2013 and years later sent her a Facebook message that said “So I raped you” pleaded guilty on Thursday to sexual assault.
The plea, in the Adams County Court of Common Pleas in Gettysburg, Pa., capped a case in which Shannon Keeler, 30, the woman who was attacked, spent years pressing the authorities to bring charges against the man, Ian Cleary. 32.
Mr. Cleary attacked Ms. Keeler in her dorm room on the night of Dec. 15, 2013, when they were both students at Gettysburg College, kissing her and then having sex with her without her consent, prosecutors said.
Years later, in 2019, Mr. Cleary sent Ms. Keeler a series of Facebook messages about the attack. The Adams County District Attorney’s Office brought charges against Mr. Cleary in 2021, setting off a search that ended with his arrest in 2024 in France and his extradition to the United States in January.
Under a plea agreement, Mr. Cleary will face a maximum possible sentence of four to eight years in prison when he is sentenced by Judge Kevin A. Hess on Oct. 20, according to John Abom, Mr. Cleary’s lawyer.
Mr. Cleary can receive credit for his time in custody since his April 2024 arrest, Mr. Abom said. He is being held at the Adams County Adult Correctional Complex.
Brian Sinnett, the district attorney for Adams County, did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Thursday.
Andrea Levy, a lawyer for Ms. Keeler, did not respond to requests for comment.
According to The Associated Press, Ms. Keeler clenched her husband’s hand as Mr. Cleary was led into the courtroom. It was the first time she’d seen Mr. Cleary since the 2013 attack, The A.P. reported.
According to an affidavit of probable cause, Ms. Keeler reported the sexual assault to the Gettysburg police on the night of Dec. 15, 2013, after she and some friends went to a party on the Gettysburg College campus to celebrate the end of finals.
Ms. Keeler told the police that Mr. Cleary had followed her and a friend home, and that the friend told Mr. Cleary to “go away” after he offered $20 to be left alone with Ms. Keeler, the affidavit said.
After her friend left her dorm, Ms. Keeler heard a knock and opened her door without looking through the peephole, thinking it would be another friend, the affidavit said. Instead, it was Mr. Cleary, who entered her dorm and assaulted her, according to the document.
In a 2021 interview with The A.P., Ms. Keeler said that the district attorney’s office said that it was difficult to prosecute sexual assault cases when the victim had been drinking. She also said that she had learned that the rape kit from the police investigation was destroyed after the case was initially closed.
But a break came in 2020, when Ms. Keeler discovered a series of Facebook messages that Mr. Cleary sent her in 2019. “I need to hear your voice,” one said. “I need to know if I did it or not.”
“So I raped you,” another message said.
Ms. Keeler then contacted the Adams County District Attorney’s Office, which obtained an arrest warrant for Mr. Cleary in June 2021.
He was arrested in April 2024 in the French city of Metz in connection with a case involving the possession of stolen goods, according to officials. Mr. Cleary told the authorities he had been in France for two to three years at the time of his arrest.
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