American arrested in France after posting ‘So I raped you’ on Facebook can be extradited, court rules

A French court ruled Monday that the American accused of sexually assaulting a Pennsylvania college student in 2013 and later sending her a Facebook message saying: “So I raped you.” may be extradited to the United States.

Ian Cleary31, of Saratoga, California, was arrested in April in Metz, northeastern France, after a three-year search. He has been held in custody awaiting extradition proceedings since his arrest.

The Metz appeals court ruled that Cleary could be extradited. Asked whether he wanted to be extradited or not, in accordance with French law, Cleary refused, prosecutors said in a statement Monday. His refusal could delay the extradition process, but will not stop it.

The decision is final. Cleary’s case is now in the hands of the French Ministry of Justice, which must prepare and submit the extradition order to the French Prime Minister. Pending the Prime Minister’s signature, Cleary remains in detention in France.

Justice Department officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Cleary had been the subject of an international search since Pennsylvania authorities issued a felony warrant in 2021 in the case, weeks after an Associated Press story detailed local prosecutors’ reluctance to pursue campus sex crimes.

The arrest warrant accuses Cleary of harassment An 18-year-old Gettysburg College student at a party snuck into her dorm room and sexually assaulted her while she was texting friends for help. He was a 20-year-old Gettysburg College student at the time but did not return to campus.

Shannon Keeler, the Gettysburg accuser, underwent a rape exam the same day she was attacked in 2013. She gathered witnesses and evidence and spent years urging authorities to file charges. She went to authorities again in 2021 after discovering Facebook messages that appeared to come from Cleary’s account.

“So I raped you,” the sender wrote in a series of messages.

“I will never do that to anyone again.”

“I need to hear your voice.”

“I will pray for you.”

The AP does not typically identify victims of sexual assault without their permission, which Keeler granted. The accuser’s Pennsylvania attorney declined to comment Monday.

According to the June 2021 warrant, police verified that the Facebook account used to send the messages belonged to Ian Cleary. Adams County Prosecutor Brian Sinnett, who filed it, declined to comment on the developments when contacted Monday.

After leaving Gettysburg, Cleary earned undergraduate and graduate degrees at Santa Clara University, near his family home in California, worked for Tesla, and then moved to France for several years, according to his website, which describes his self-published medieval fiction.

Keeler, a native of Moorestown, New Jersey, stayed in Gettysburg to earn her degree and help the women’s lacrosse team win a national title.

By 2023, two years after the warrant was filed, Keeler and his lawyers I wondered how he avoided being captured In the age of digital tracking, the U.S. Marshals Service believed he was likely overseas and traveling, even though he was the subject of an Interpol alert called a Red Notice.

In the United States, very few campus rapes are prosecuted, both because victims are afraid to go to the police and because prosecutors are reluctant to bring charges against them, which can be difficult to win, the AP investigation found.

Keeler, when the arrest warrant was issued, said she was grateful, but knew it only happened “because I went public with my story, which no survivor should have to do to get justice.”