An American is accused of sexually assaulting a Pennsylvania college student in 2013 and later Send her a Facebook message The sentence "So I raped you" was ordered held without bail during a court hearing in Pennsylvania on Friday.
Ian Cleary, 31, of Saratoga, California, appeared in court a day after returning to the United States. After three years of searching, April in Metz, Francethe French Court of Appeal later stated he may be extradited. He appeared for his preliminary arraignment via video without an attorney.
East Berlin District Judge Tony J. Little made the detention decision, citing a request from the Adams County District Attorney's Office, which concluded that Cleary had no ties to the area and had been in France. Work or permanent address. Prosecutors also noted that he had access to financial resources through his family.
Cleary The hearing was relatively calm, with only brief remarks to answer the judge's questions. The next hearing is scheduled for January 29.
Former Gettysburg University student Shannon Keeler, who has pursued the case for more than a decade, said Cleary's extradition gave her "renewed faith" in the justice system.
Cleary became the subject of an international search in 2021 when Pennsylvania authorities issued an arrest warrant in the case, weeks after an Associated Press report detailed local prosecutors' reluctance to pursue campus sex crimes.
The arrest warrant accuses Cleary of stalking Keeler, 18, at a campus party in 2013, sneaking into her dormitory and sexually assaulting her while she was texting friends asking for help. He was a 20-year-old student at Gettysburg but did not return to campus.
Keeler underwent a rape exam that day. She gathered witnesses and evidence and spent years urging officials to press charges. In 2021, she again sought help from authorities after discovering Facebook messages that appeared to come from Cleary's account.
"So I raped you," the sender wrote in a string of messages.
"I'll never do that to anyone again."
"I need to hear your voice."
"I will pray for you."