French authorities have announced that an American man arrested in France on suspicion of sexually assaulting a Pennsylvania college student in 2013 has been extradited to the United States to face charges.
The man, Ian Thomas Cleary, of Saratoga, California, was boarded on a plane from Charles de Gaulle Airport outside Paris on Thursday morning, said Christophe Milla, senior prosecutor at France's Metz Court of Appeals. That's what it means.
Cleary, 31, was arrested in France last year after a three-year manhunt, in part because of messages he sent on Facebook to a woman he was accused of assaulting several years earlier, in 2013. Student Shannon Keeler reported: Authorities in Adams County, Pennsylvania, where she attended Gettysburg College, said Cleary, also a student at the college, attacked her on the night of Dec. 15.
However, Cleary was not charged until 2021 after discovering a series of messages Keeler sent her on Facebook in 2019. It also included the line, “That's why I raped you.”
Calls and messages to Mr. Cleary's public defender, Heloise Rouschel, of Metz, were not immediately returned. It is unclear whether Mr. Cleary has anyone else to represent him.
According to a probable cause affidavit, Keeler told authorities that Cleary followed her and a friend home after a party on campus. The friend said Cleary offered her $20 to be alone with Keeler and then told her to “get out,” according to the affidavit.
But shortly after Keeler arrived at the home and his friend left, Keeler heard a knock and opened the door without looking through the peephole, the affidavit said. It was Cleary, and authorities said he entered the apartment without her consent, kissed Keeler and had sex with her. Keeler apologized and left, authorities said, and Keeler sent a message to a friend asking for help.
“For years, not being able to do anything has bothered me,” Keeler said in a 2021 interview with The Associated Press. Authorities reportedly told her that it would be difficult to prosecute victims of assault. She said she was drinking. After the case was initially solved, she discovered that the rape kit she had submitted had been destroyed.
Keeler welcomed the news of the extradition in a statement released by his lawyer on Thursday.
“After years of waiting, arrest and extradition provide renewed confidence that the justice system will work if survivors persist, with the help and support of family, friends, advocates and lawyers. '' she said.
Her attorney, Andrea Levy, added: “This is a very meaningful day for Shannon in her long journey to seek justice and healing.”
Eight years later, Cleary was indicted after the Facebook messages were discovered. Keeler turned them over to Adams County authorities, who issued a warrant for Cleary's arrest in June 2021. Federal marshals came to believe Cleary was overseas, and he became a target of Interpol, the Associated Press reported. A red notice calling for his arrest.
He was arrested in April last year in the French city of Metz in connection with a case of possession of stolen goods, according to prosecutors at the Metz Court of Appeal. On Thursday, Senior Prosecutor Mira said no charges had been filed regarding the stolen goods. He added that Mila had told French authorities that he arrived in France two or three years ago.
Adams County District Attorney Brian Sinnett did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment. The U.S. Department of Justice, which oversees the U.S. Marshals Service, also did not respond to a request for comment.
Johnny Diaz and Daphne Angles Contributed to the report.
