The former college hockey player who messaged a woman on Facebook saying he was responsible for her rape remains at large two years after being charged.
Ian Cleary, 30, messaged Shannon Keeler, 28, in 2019, writing “So I raped you”, apparently admitting to a sexual assault that happened at a party in 2013.
Keeler’s lawyer, Andrea Levy, is now wondering where he is and who is helping him.
‘How does he support himself financially? How is he able to travel overseas undetected? Did he take on a false identity? Levy told CBS.
The alleged rape happened when Keeler was a freshman attending a semester graduation party at Gettysburg College in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.
In June 2021, Keeler went public with his accusations and shared screenshots of the message Cleary sent him, resulting in charges being brought against him.
Ian Cleary, 30, messaged Shannon Keeler (pictured) in 2019, writing ‘So I raped you’, apparently admitting to a sexual assault that happened at a party in 2013
Ian Cleary (pictured) in a wanted poster released by the US Marshals Service
‘How does he support himself financially? How is he able to travel overseas undetected? Did he take on a false identity? Keeler’s attorney, Andrea Levy, told CBS
In posts shared by Keeler, Cleary allegedly wrote, “So I raped you.” I will never do this to anyone again… I need to hear your voice.
For years, local authorities refused her requests to press charges, even after she showed them the startling Facebook posts she discovered in 2020.
They reverse course weeks after it went public in an Associated Press history which examined the reluctance of local agencies to prosecute sexual assaults on campuses.
Levy says she’s furious that Keeler is still struggling to close this chapter of her life while Cleary remains on the loose.
“She had to push and push and put herself out there … and then he literally went on with his life. It is difficult to measure this impact on her as a human being (and on) her family, her partner,” the lawyer said.
Federal authorities say they believe the man fled the country.
Cleary left Gettysburg after a Title IX rape investigation. He then graduated from Santa Clara University in 2016, according to his website.
The webpage says he once worked for Tesla and speaks Spanish and French and has lived in Costa Rica and France.
Cleary reportedly fled the country after charges were brought against him
“So I raped you,” Cleary allegedly wrote, along with “I’ll never do it to anyone again.”
The alleged rape took place at Gettysburg College in 2013 during an end-of-semester party
For Keeler, the years of limbo have been painful, even as she moves forward in her life and career, her attorney says.
She works for a software company and is getting married this fall. But she remains on high alert for an arrest that could come at any time, knowing that a trial could disrupt her life for months or even years.
‘There is a cost. There is a real human cost. It’s someone’s life,” Levy said.
The US Marshalls say they are working with foreign authorities to try to find the man.
“We put a lot of work and effort into it,” said U.S. Deputy Marshal Phil Lewis, warrants supervisor for the Pennsylvania Central District Office.
“All crimes against women and children, we take seriously and we make these types of cases a priority,” Lewis continued.
Adams County District Attorney Brian Sinnett, who filed the warrant on June 29, 2021, called the length of the search “somewhat frustrating.”
“I just have to think that this person is accessing resources from somewhere,” he said.
Keeler is pictured at the time of her rape in December 2013
Sinnett said there is now more coordination between campus and local police after Keeler’s case – and others like it – sparked a massive backlash.
Keeler is still awaiting his day in court, nearly a decade after reporting the attack and Cleary quitting the school, ending the college’s Title IX investigation.
“Since then he has fled again to face this felony charge,” Keeler said.
His goal is “to finally close this painful and endless chapter of my life”.
