PARIS — French Appeal Court prosecutors said an American man accused of sexually assaulting a Pennsylvania college student in 2013 and later sending her a Facebook message that said, “So I raped you,” was being extradited Thursday to the United States.
The Appeal Court prosecutors’ office in Metz, in northeastern France, said Ian Cleary was handed over to U.S. authorities at Paris Charles de Gaulle airport.
Cleary, 31, of Saratoga, California, was detained in April in Metz after a three-year search. He has been held in custody pending extradition proceedings since his arrest. The Appeal Court in Metz ruled in July that he could be extradited.
Cleary had been the subject of an international search since authorities in Pennsylvania issued a 2021 felony warrant in the case weeks after an Associated Press story detailed the reluctance of local prosecutors to pursue campus sex crimes.
The arrest warrant accuses Cleary of stalking an 18-year-old Gettysburg College student at a party in 2013, sneaking into her dorm and sexually assaulting her while she texted friends for help. He was a 20-year-old Gettysburg student at the time, but didn’t return to campus.
The accuser, Shannon Keeler, had a rape exam done the same day. She gathered witnesses and evidence and spent years urging officials to file charges. She went to authorities again in 2021 after discovering the Facebook messages that seemed to come from Cleary’s account.
“So I raped you,” the sender wrote in a string of messages.
“I’ll never do it to anyone ever again.”
“I need to hear your voice.”
“I’ll pray for you.”
According to the June 2021 warrant, police verified that the Facebook account used to send the messages belonged to Cleary.
The AP doesn’t typically identify sexual assault victims without their permission, which Keeler has granted.