A man who committed a sexual assault in 2013 and later reached out to his victim seeking forgiveness has been sentenced to prison. This case highlights the persistence of justice, even years after the crime was committed.
Ian Cleary, now 32, reached out to his victim, Shannon Keeler, in 2019. As part of a 12-step recovery program, he contacted her through Facebook, expressing a desire to make amends for his past actions.
The assault took place when Keeler was just 18, during her freshman year at Gettysburg College in Pennsylvania. Despite the severity of the crime, it went unaddressed by the legal system for several years.
However, Cleary’s message reignited the pursuit of justice. In a chilling confession, he wrote, “So I raped you. I’ll never do it to anyone ever again.” This admission prompted Keeler to renew her efforts to bring him to justice.
On Monday, Cleary was sentenced to up to four years in prison after being convicted of second-degree sexual assault. This case underscores the importance of accountability and the long journey to justice for survivors of such crimes.
The message led Keeler to renew efforts to seek legal action against her abuser and on Monday, Cleary was jailed for up to four years on a charge of second degree sexual assault.
In a powerful 10-minute impact statement in court, Keeler, who has waived her anonymity, described the difficulties she faced pursuing charges against Cleary for years.
‘The system meant to protect me protected you instead,’ she said. ‘This isn’t just my story, this is the story of countless women.’
Ian Cleary, 32, was sentenced to two to four years in prison in Pennsylvania for sexually assaulting a women while the two were in college in 2013
Cleary’s victim, Shannon Keeler, said a Facebook message sent by her abuser seeking attonement did nothing but reopen old wounds
Keeler was relieved her assaulter finally faced justice after more than a decade
After the trial, Keeler told Good Morning America how it felt to secure justice after so many years.
‘I was shaking and tearing up a bit, but it felt really good to be able to look him in the eyes and tell him what he did to me,’ she said.
Cleary faced a maximum sentence of 10 years for the crime, and both the prosecution and defense had initially suggested a four-to eight-year sentence.
Cleary’s more modest sentence of two to four years, which was below state guidelines, resulted from Senior Judge Kevin Hess taking into account the sexual assaulter’s guilty plea, his apparent remorse and his long history of mental illness.
The judge 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.’
Although he added that anyone with daughters or, like him, granddaughters in college would find the crime ‘horrifying’.
Keeler’s lawyer, Andrea Levy, slammed the sentence as, ‘less than what we expected and certainly less than he deserves,’ but added it was a relief that the case was finally over.
Keeler herself echoed that sentiment and said: ‘It definitely was shorter than we expected and less than I think he deserved.
The sexual assault took place at Gettysburg College while Cleary was an 18-year-old in her first semester
Although Cleary’s sentence was below state guidelines, it brought some closure to his victim that sought justice for more than a decade
‘But you know what, he’s going to jail and he’s going to have the label of a sexual predator for the rest of his life, and that’s accountability, and that’s justice, and for that … I’m happy, and I’m grateful, and I’m relieved, and I’m lucky.’
Keeler told police that the crime took place on the eve of winter break, when few people were left on campus. She had been at a fraternity party where she met Cleary and he kept bothering her.
She said a friend then escorted her back to her dorm out of concern for safety, but Cleary followed them.
He then snuck into the dorm and knocked on Keeler’s door. She said: ‘I just didn’t think for a second it would be him.’
After she opened the door, Cleary forced his way inside the room and sexually assaulted her.
After the attack, the assaulter left Gettysburg and finished school at a college in Sillicon Valley, California, where he grew up. He then got a master’s degree and worked for Tesla before moving overseas.
Cleary sent the Facebook message while he was outside of the country. Keeler saw it a few months later, and it reignited her pursuit of justice.
In 2021, she shared her story with the Associated Press for a story about the reluctance of prosecutors to pursue campus sex crimes.
Keeler told the court on Monday that her experience was not ‘just my story, this is the story of countless women’
Keeler’s abuser was indicted weeks after the story was published.
But she still faced hurdles as the results of the rape kit she submitted the night she was assaulted in 2013 had been destroyed by the time of the indictment.
‘My life moved on, but the impact never went away, not for me, not for my family, not for anyone who had to watch this unfold again and again,’ Keeler said.
Authorities in the US and Europe were unable to find Cleary until he was arrested on an unrelated vagrancy charge in France in April 2024.
After a three-year search, he was found and extradited back to Pennsylvania from Metz, France.
Cleary’s defense lawyer said his client had been intermittently homeless and was unaware of the indictment.
Adams County District Attorney Brian Sinnett said he had his doubts, but could not prove that the defendant had been on the run.
In court on Monday, Cleary faced his victim from a few feet away and apologized to her.
‘I’m committed to getting treatment for mental health and stuff like that as I go forward,’ he said.
