In a case that underscores the challenges faced by victims of campus sexual assault, Ian Cleary was sentenced to two to four years in prison on Monday. This followed his guilty plea for sexually assaulting a woman at a Pennsylvania college campus, an event brought back into the spotlight by a chilling Facebook message he sent to her, stating, “So I raped you.”
The court’s decision accounted for Cleary’s admission of guilt, his expressed remorse, and his documented history of mental illness, resulting in a sentence that fell below the state’s usual guidelines. Cleary, now 32, explained that his message was intended as part of a 12-step program aimed at seeking forgiveness and making amends.
However, for Shannon Keeler, the recipient of that message, it served only to reopen traumatic memories from the assault, which had long gone unprosecuted. In a poignant courtroom speech, Keeler described how the legal system failed to protect her, instead shielding her assailant.
“The system meant to protect me protected you instead,” Keeler asserted during her impactful 10-minute statement. She recounted her persistent quest for justice in the face of prosecutorial hesitation often seen in campus sexual assault cases.
Keeler’s ordeal is emblematic of the struggles many women face, as she poignantly pointed out, “This isn’t just my story, it’s the story of countless women.”
The attack occurred back in 2013 when Keeler was a student at Gettysburg College. Initially, both parties had suggested a sentence range of four to eight years, with Cleary facing a possible maximum of ten years behind bars.
Andrea Levy, Keeler’s lawyer, said the sentence was “less than what we expected and certainly less than he deserves.”
Senior Judge Kevin Hess said that anyone with daughters or, like him, granddaughters in college would find the crime “horrifying.” Nevertheless, he said, “the defendant has admitted his guilt, he’s come forward and even though 10 to 11 alarming years have passed in the meantime, we wouldn’t be here today but for his hope for some kind of forgiveness and contrition.”
According to Keeler, Cleary sneaked into her first-year dorm on the eve of winter break, when few people were left on campus, then pushed his way into her room and assaulted her.
Cleary left Gettysburg after the attack and ultimately finished college in Silicon Valley, California, where he’d grown up. He then got a master’s degree and worked for Tesla before moving overseas.
Years later, he sent the Facebook message to Keeler, and she renewed her efforts with police and prosecutors to have charges filed. In 2021, she shared her experience in an Associated Press story on the reluctance of prosecutors to pursue campus sex crimes.
Cleary was indicted weeks after the AP story was published, and following a three-year search, was extradited from Metz, France, where he had been detained on minor, unrelated charges in April 2024.
Cleary, standing just a few feet away, apologized to Keeler in court on Monday, as well as to his family.
“I’m committed to getting treatment for mental health and stuff like that as I go forward,” he said.
Keeler, in interviews with the AP, described her decade-long effort to persuade authorities to pursue charges, starting hours after the assault.
“I had been thinking about this moment for 12 years,” Keeler said after seeing Cleary in court in July when he pleaded guilty to second-degree sexual assault. She called it a surreal moment.
Authorities in the U.S. and Europe tried to track Cleary down after the indictment, but seemed unable to follow his trail, online or otherwise, until his arrest in the unrelated case.
In court in July, defense lawyer John Abom said Cleary was homeless at times and unaware of the charges. Adams County District Attorney Brian Sinnett said he had his doubts, but could not prove that Cleary was on the run.
Cleary’s family members have declined to comment on the case and did not attend most of his court hearings. His father was present at Monday’s sentencing, however.
The AP typically does not name people who say they have been sexually assaulted unless they come forward publicly, as Keeler has done.
“There’s a lot of joy in just the relief there is that this is over, and Shannon’s going to be able to turn the page (and) move on with the next steps of healing,” her lawyer said.
