Latest news with #GettysburgCollege
New York Post
30-05-2025
- New York Post
Ex-Gettysburg College student-athlete who texted ‘So I raped you' to alleged victim hires lawyer to review plea deal
Ex-Gettysburg College student-athlete Ian Cleary was seen in prison photos for the first time since hiring a new lawyer to review the plea deal for his alleged rape of a female freshman — who he messaged years later 'so I raped you,' according to a report. Cleary, 32, hired a private attorney to review a potential plea deal negotiated by Pennsylvania public defenders onbehalf of the former Division III hockey goalie who allegedly raped a college freshman in her Gettsyburg College dorm room in 2013. 4 Ian Cleary, 32, seen for the first time since his arrest and extradition to the US on charges that he raped a fellow Gettysburg College student in 2013. AP Advertisement The plea deal had been in the works with the 32-year-old hiring a private attorney at the behest of his parents, the Adams County District Court heard Thursday. Cleary is alleged to have raped Shannon Keeler, a then-18-year-old freshman at the Pennsylvania college, who has been trying to get justice for the attack for over a decade. 4 Cleary appeared in an Adams County District Court room that is less than a mile from the Gettysburg College dorm room where he allegedly raped a fellow student. AP Keeler said Cleary followed her home after a frat party, where she and another female attendee said he made inappropriate remarks and was touchy. Advertisement Keeler was accompanied by a male friend on her short walk back and made it home safe, but later heard a knock at her door and thought it was her friend, she said. Instead, at the door was Cleary, whose name she didn't even know at that point. He allegedly raped her in her dorm room before running off. Keeler immediately went to police and underwent a rape test to support her claim that Cleary snuck into her dorm and raped her after a frat party — but it took a set of sick Facebook messages in 2021 to get investigators to pursue justice, she told the Associated Press the same year. 'So I raped you,' Cleary wrote to Keeler in an out-of-the-blue Facebook message. Advertisement In the direct messages, Cleary seemed to attempt to rationalize the alleged sex crime, saying that he had 'to catch a plane' and that he was 'high,' screengrabs of the messages show. 'I'll never do it to anyone ever again,' the alleged rapist wrote. 'I need to hear your voice,' Cleary eerily wrote. 4 Shannon Keeler went to authorities, even undergoing a rape test, in 2013, but Pennsylvania officials only filed charges after she presented them with a series of out-of-the-blue Facebook messages that included an apparent confession. AP Advertisement Keeler successfully lobbied Pennsylvania authorities to issue a felony warrant for his arrest in 2021 — eight years after local government and school officials failed to support her initial legal efforts. After the assault in 2013, Cleary left campus in the wake of the burgeoning investigation and never returned — later graduating from Santa Clara University with undergraduate and graduate degrees. Cleary's withdrawal from the school ended the college's Title IX investigation into the rape allegations. He worked for carmaker Tesla before moving to France to pursue a lifestyle of travel and writing, according to his personal website. 4 Gettysburg College dropped their Title IX investigation into the rape allegation after Cleary withdrew from the school. AP Cleary was arrested in Metz, France in 2024 after a yearslong pursuit, extradited to the United States in January, and appeared in court for the first time Thursday less than one mile from where the alleged rape took place. He could face up to 10 years in prison if convicted and is due back in court on July 17. If you have been sexually assaulted and live in New York, you can call 1-800-942-6906 for free and confidential crisis counseling. If you live outside the state, you can dial the 24/7 National Sexual Assault hotline at 1-800-656-4673.
29-05-2025
A man charged in a 2013 Pennsylvania campus sex assault hires a lawyer to review possible plea deal
GETTYSBURG, Pa. -- An American who was extradited from France this year to face allegations of a 2013 campus sexual assault after the accuser went public with her story hired a private lawyer to review a potential plea deal, lawyers in the case said in court Thursday. Ian Cleary, 32, of Saratoga, California, made his first in-person court appearance in Adams County, a half-mile from where the encounter occurred at Gettysburg College. A plea had been in the works, according to Assistant Public Defender Joshua Neiderhiser, who has represented Cleary since he was brought back to the U.S. However, after speaking with his parents, Cleary agreed to hire a lawyer to review the case, delaying a possible deal. 'The initial purpose of my involvement is for a second opinion,' lawyer Steve Rice told Judge Kevin Hess, who was brought in from Cumberland County because an Adams County judge was the district attorney who declined to file charges when victim Shannon Keeler first went to authorities. Keeler, in interviews with The Associated Press, described her decade-long efforts to persuade authorities to pursue charges, starting hours after Cleary, a third-year student, allegedly sneaked into her first-year dorm on the eve of winter break. She renewed the quest in 2021, after finding a series of disturbing Facebook messages from his account that said, 'So I raped you.' Keeler did not attend Thursday's hearing, but her lawyer, Andrea Levy, said she remains ready to see the case through to the end. 'It has been 11 1/2 years Shannon has waited for this defendant to make an appearance in a Gettysburg courtroom face to face with a judge in this criminal charge, so this is an important day and a step forward in the process,' Levy said. Cleary has been in custody since his arrest on minor, unrelated charges in Metz, France, in April 2024. He could face up to 10 years in prison if convicted on the sexual assault charge. He declined the opportunity to speak to the judge Thursday. Family members have declined to comment on the case, and none appeared in court for the hearing. The next hearing is set for July 17. Cleary, who grew up in Silicon Valley, left Gettysburg College after the alleged assault there and finished college near home. He then got a master's degree and worked for Tesla before moving overseas, where he spent time writing medieval fiction, according to his online posts. The AP published an investigation on the case and on the broader reluctance among prosecutors to pursue campus sex assault charges in May 2021. An indictment followed weeks later. Authorities in the U.S. and Europe had been trying to track Cleary down until his capture in France. The AP does not typically identify sexual assault victims without their permission, which Keeler has granted.
Yahoo
29-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
A man charged in a 2013 Pennsylvania campus sex assault hires a lawyer to review possible plea deal
GETTYSBURG, Pa. (AP) — An American who was extradited from France this year to face allegations of a 2013 campus sexual assault after the accuser went public with her story hired a private lawyer to review a potential plea deal, lawyers in the case said in court Thursday. Ian Cleary, 32, of Saratoga, California, made his first in-person court appearance in Adams County, a half-mile from where the encounter occurred at Gettysburg College. A plea had been in the works, according to Assistant Public Defender Joshua Neiderhiser, who has represented Cleary since he was brought back to the U.S. However, after speaking with his parents, Cleary agreed to hire a lawyer to review the case, delaying a possible deal. 'The initial purpose of my involvement is for a second opinion,' lawyer Steve Rice told Judge Kevin Hess, who was brought in from Cumberland County because an Adams County judge was the district attorney who declined to file charges when victim Shannon Keeler first went to authorities. Keeler, in interviews with The Associated Press, described her decade-long efforts to persuade authorities to pursue charges, starting hours after Cleary, a third-year student, allegedly sneaked into her first-year dorm on the eve of winter break. She renewed the quest in 2021, after finding a series of disturbing Facebook messages from his account that said, 'So I raped you.' Keeler did not attend Thursday's hearing, but her lawyer, Andrea Levy, said she remains ready to see the case through to the end. 'It has been 11 1/2 years Shannon has waited for this defendant to make an appearance in a Gettysburg courtroom face to face with a judge in this criminal charge, so this is an important day and a step forward in the process,' Levy said. Cleary has been in custody since his arrest on minor, unrelated charges in Metz, France, in April 2024. He could face up to 10 years in prison if convicted on the sexual assault charge. He declined the opportunity to speak to the judge Thursday. Family members have declined to comment on the case, and none appeared in court for the hearing. The next hearing is set for July 17. Cleary, who grew up in Silicon Valley, left Gettysburg College after the alleged assault there and finished college near home. He then got a master's degree and worked for Tesla before moving overseas, where he spent time writing medieval fiction, according to his online posts. The AP published an investigation on the case and on the broader reluctance among prosecutors to pursue campus sex assault charges in May 2021. An indictment followed weeks later. Authorities in the U.S. and Europe had been trying to track Cleary down until his capture in France. The AP does not typically identify sexual assault victims without their permission, which Keeler has granted.
San Francisco Chronicle
29-05-2025
- San Francisco Chronicle
A man charged in a 2013 Pennsylvania campus sex assault hires a lawyer to review possible plea deal
GETTYSBURG, Pa. (AP) — An American who was extradited from France this year to face allegations of a 2013 campus sexual assault after the accuser went public with her story hired a private lawyer to review a potential plea deal, lawyers in the case said in court Thursday. Ian Cleary, 32, of Saratoga, California, made his first in-person court appearance in Adams County, a half-mile from where the encounter occurred at Gettysburg College. A plea had been in the works, according to Assistant Public Defender Joshua Neiderhiser, who has represented Cleary since he was brought back to the U.S. However, after speaking with his parents, Cleary agreed to hire a lawyer to review the case, delaying a possible deal. 'The initial purpose of my involvement is for a second opinion,' lawyer Steve Rice told Judge Kevin Hess, who was brought in from Cumberland County because an Adams County judge was the district attorney who declined to file charges when victim Shannon Keeler first went to authorities. Keeler, in interviews with The Associated Press, described her decade-long efforts to persuade authorities to pursue charges, starting hours after Cleary, a third-year student, allegedly sneaked into her first-year dorm on the eve of winter break. She renewed the quest in 2021, after finding a series of disturbing Facebook messages from his account that said, 'So I raped you.' Keeler did not attend Thursday's hearing, but her lawyer, Andrea Levy, said she remains ready to see the case through to the end. 'It has been 11 1/2 years Shannon has waited for this defendant to make an appearance in a Gettysburg courtroom face to face with a judge in this criminal charge, so this is an important day and a step forward in the process,' Levy said. Cleary has been in custody since his arrest on minor, unrelated charges in Metz, France, in April 2024. He could face up to 10 years in prison if convicted on the sexual assault charge. He declined the opportunity to speak to the judge Thursday. Family members have declined to comment on the case, and none appeared in court for the hearing. The next hearing is set for July 17. Cleary, who grew up in Silicon Valley, left Gettysburg College after the alleged assault there and finished college near home. He then got a master's degree and worked for Tesla before moving overseas, where he spent time writing medieval fiction, according to his online posts. The AP published an investigation on the case and on the broader reluctance among prosecutors to pursue campus sex assault charges in May 2021. An indictment followed weeks later. Authorities in the U.S. and Europe had been trying to track Cleary down until his capture in France. The AP does not typically identify sexual assault victims without their permission, which Keeler has granted.
Toronto Star
29-05-2025
- Toronto Star
A man charged in a 2013 Pennsylvania campus sex assault hires a lawyer to review possible plea deal
GETTYSBURG, Pa. (AP) — An American who was extradited from France this year to face allegations of a 2013 campus sexual assault after the accuser went public with her story hired a private lawyer to review a potential plea deal, lawyers in the case said in court Thursday. Ian Cleary, 32, of Saratoga, California, made his first in-person court appearance in Adams County, a half-mile from where the encounter occurred at Gettysburg College.
