FOUR YEARS for a Facebook Confession: Justice System Blasted Over Rapist’s Slap on the Wrist

FOUR YEARS for: A man was sentenced on Monday to two to four years in jail for sending a Facebook message that said, “So I raped you,” to a woman he had sexually abused in 2013 while attending college in Pennsylvania.

The prosecution and defense had originally suggested a four- to eight-year sentence for Ian Cleary, but he now faces up to ten years in jail for the assault.

Cleary was sentenced about 12 years after the victim initially called the police, and more than a year after he was extradited from France to Pennsylvania for the Gettysburg College attack.

The court sentenced Cleary below state standards, taking into consideration his lengthy history of mental illness, his guilty plea, and his remorse. According to Cleary, 32, he sent the notes in an attempt to find atonement while participating in a 12-step rehabilitation program.

Shannon Keeler, the victim, said in court on Monday that the texts simply served to reignite the scars she had long borne from the attack, which remained unpunished for years.

In a stirring 10-minute impact statement, Keeler described the years she spent seeking charges—which prosecutors are sometimes hesitant to file in instances of university sexual assault—and said that “the system meant to protect me protected you instead.”

She said, “This is not just my story.” “This is the tale of innumerable women.”

Andrea Levy, Keeler’s attorney, said that while the sentence was “less than what we expected and certainly less than he deserves,” she acknowledged that the matter was now concluded.

On the eve of winter break, when few people were still on school, Keeler told police that Cleary broke into her dorm, shoved his way into her room, and attacked her. At the time, she was eighteen and in her first semester on university.

Kevin Hess, a senior judge, described the incident as “horrifying” for anybody who had daughters or, like him, grandchildren attending college.

We wouldn’t be here today, he said, “but for the defendant’s hope for some sort of forgiveness and contrition, even though 10 to 11 alarming years have passed since he came forward and admitted his guilt.”

After the assault, Cleary fled Gettysburg and eventually completed his undergraduate education in Silicon Valley, California, where he was raised. After earning a master’s degree, he worked at Tesla before relocating abroad.

He sent Keeler the Facebook message in 2019, and a few months later, she saw the police and prosecutors and redoubled her efforts. She spoke about her experience in an Associated Press article on prosecutors’ unwillingness to look into university sex offenses in 2021.

After a three-year hunt, Cleary was extradited from Metz, France, where he had been held on a vagrancy-related charge in April 2024, and he was indicted weeks after the AP report was published.

Cleary apologized to Keeler and his father on Monday while standing a few feet away in court.

“As I move forward, I’m determined to receive treatment for mental health issues and other issues,” he said.

In addition to missing the majority of Cleary’s court appearances, his family has refused to speak on the matter.

In interviews with the AP, Keeler detailed her repeated attempts to get authorities to file charges, beginning only hours after the attack.

After seeing Cleary in court in July, when he entered a guilty plea to second-degree sexual assault, Keeler said, “I had been thinking about this moment for 12 years.” It was a weird moment, she said.

After the indictment, authorities in the US and Europe attempted to find Cleary, but they were unable to do so, either online or offline, until his arrest in the unrelated case.

John Abom, the defense attorney, argued that Cleary was sometimes homeless and ignorant of the accusations. Brian Sinnett, the district attorney for Adams County, said that although he had his reservations, he was unable to provide evidence that Cleary was evading capture.

People who report being sexually assaulted are usually not named by the Associated Press until they come forward publicly, as Keeler has done.

She told the court Monday, “The system that failed me ten years ago finally delivered accountability, but at a cost,” adding that at the time of the indictment, the findings of the rape kit she was handed that evening had been destroyed. “The evidence vanished. Time went along.

“My life went on, but the impact remained, not only for me but also for my family and anybody else who had to witness this repeatedly.”

The following organizations provide information and assistance to anybody impacted by problems of sexual abuse or rape. Rainn provides assistance in the United States at 800-656-4673. Rape Crisis provides help in the UK at 0808 500 2222. Support is accessible in Australia at 1800Respect (1800 737 732).