A person accused of sexually assaulting a Pennsylvania school scholar in 2013 after which, years later, sending her a message that stated “So I raped you” has been arrested in France, the authorities stated.
The person, Ian Thomas Cleary of Saratoga, Calif., had been sought since 2021, when a warrant for his arrest was issued charging him with sexual assault. Mr. Cleary, 31, was detained final month in Metz, France, in line with the prosecutor’s workplace on the Metz Appeals Courtroom.
The prosecutor’s workplace stated that Mr. Cleary had been arrested in reference to a case involving the possession of stolen items. It didn’t present additional particulars concerning the circumstances of the arrest however stated that Mr. Cleary had informed the French police that he had been in France for the previous two to 3 years.
Mr. Cleary continues to be in detention, the prosecutor’s workplace stated. It was not instantly clear how shortly Mr. Cleary may be extradited to the US, however the prosecutor’s workplace stated he may very well be detained for as much as 60 days, which is the period of time American judicial authorities should file an official extradition request.
The arrest warrant was issued after Shannon Keeler found a sequence of Fb messages from Mr. Cleary and confirmed them to the authorities in Adams County, Pa., the place she was a scholar at Gettysburg School on the time of the reported assault. A lawyer for Ms. Keeler, Andrea M. Levy, stated she was not commenting on the investigation on Tuesday.
Ms. Keeler reported a sexual assault to the Gettysburg Police Division on Dec. 15, 2013, after she and a few buddies attended a celebration on the Gettysburg School campus to rejoice the tip of finals, in line with a possible trigger affidavit.
She informed the authorities that Mr. Cleary, additionally a scholar on the school on the time, had adopted her and a pal from the occasion to her dorm room. The pal who had accompanied her stated that Mr. Cleary had supplied $20 to go away him alone with Ms. Keeler, the affidavit stated.
The pal informed Mr. Cleary “to go away,” and he did, in line with the affidavit.
However minutes after the pal left, Ms. Keeler informed the authorities, there was a knock on her door, and he or she opened it with out peering by way of the peephole, in line with the affidavit.
The authorities stated that Mr. Cleary entered the house, kissed Ms. Keeler and had intercourse together with her with out consent.
After he apologized and left the unit, Ms. Keeler messaged her pal, “OMG please Assist me,” the affidavit stated.
In 2021, Ms. Keeler informed The Related Press that the authorities had informed her it was tough to prosecute assault circumstances through which the sufferer had been ingesting. She additionally stated she realized in 2020 that her rape package from the investigation had been destroyed after the case was initially closed.
However a break within the case got here in Might 2020, when Ms. Keeler discovered a sequence of Fb messages that Mr. Cleary had despatched to her in December 2019, in line with the affidavit.
One stated, “So I raped you.” One other stated, “I’ll by no means do it to anybody ever once more.”
The police obtained a search warrant for the Fb account and matched it to Mr. Cleary by way of a cellphone quantity, in line with the affidavit. The warrant for Mr. Cleary’s arrest was issued in June 2021.
By final 12 months, the U.S. Marshals Service had come to consider that he might need gone abroad, and Mr. Clearly was the topic of an Interpol alert referred to as a pink discover, in line with The A.P.
