A French courtroom dominated on Monday that the American man accused of sexually assaulting a Pennsylvania faculty scholar in 2013 and later sending her a Fb message that mentioned, “So I raped you,” might be extradited to america.
Ian Cleary, 31, of Saratoga, California, was detained in April within the metropolis of Metz in northeastern France after a three-year search. He has been held in custody pending extradition proceedings since his arrest.
The Courtroom of Enchantment in Metz mentioned that Cleary might be extradited. When requested if he wished to be extradited or not, consistent with French regulation, Cleary refused, prosecutors mentioned in a press release Monday. His refusal could delay the extradition course of, nevertheless it will not cease it.
The ruling is ultimate. Cleary’s case is now the accountability of the French Justice Ministry, which should put together and submit the extradition order for the French prime minister. Whereas he awaits the prime minister’s signature, Cleary stays detained in France.
Justice Ministry officers did not instantly reply to a request for remark.
Cleary had been the topic of a world search since authorities in Pennsylvania issued a 2021 felony warrant within the case weeks after an Related Press story detailed the reluctance of native prosecutors to pursue campus intercourse crimes.
The arrest warrant accuses Cleary of stalking an 18-year-old Gettysburg Faculty scholar at a celebration, sneaking into her dorm and sexually assaulting her whereas she texted mates for assist. He was a 20-year-old Gettysburg scholar on the time however did not return to campus.
Chris Carlson / AP
The Gettysburg accuser, Shannon Keeler, had a rape examination achieved the identical day she was assaulted in 2013. She gathered witnesses and proof and spent years urging officers to file fees. She went to authorities once more in 2021 after discovering the Fb messages that appeared to come back from Cleary’s account.
“So I raped you,” the sender had written in a string of messages.
“I am going to by no means do it to anybody ever once more.”
“I want to listen to your voice.”
“I am going to pray for you.”
The AP would not usually establish sexual assault victims with out their permission, which Keeler has granted. The accuser’s lawyer in Pennsylvania, reached on Monday, declined to touch upon the event.
In response to the June 2021 warrant, police verified that the Fb account used to ship the messages belonged to Ian Cleary. Adams County District Legal professional Brian Sinnett, who filed it, declined to touch upon developments when reached Monday.
After leaving Gettysburg, Cleary earned undergraduate and graduate levels from Santa Clara College, close to his household dwelling in California, labored for Tesla, after which moved to France for a number of years, in keeping with his web site, which describes his self-published medieval fiction.
Keeler, initially from Moorestown, New Jersey, stayed on to graduate from Gettysburg and assist lead the ladies’s lacrosse workforce to a nationwide title.
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By 2023, two years after the warrant was filed, Keeler and her legal professionals questioned how he was avoiding seize within the age of digital monitoring. The U.S. Marshals Service thought he was doubtless abroad and on the transfer, whilst he was the topic of an Interpol alert known as a crimson discover.
Throughout the U.S., only a few campus rapes are prosecuted, each as a result of victims worry going to the police and prosecutors hesitate to carry circumstances that may be laborious to win, the AP investigation discovered.
Keeler, when the warrant was issued, mentioned she was grateful, however knew it solely occurred “as a result of I went public with my story, which no survivor ought to must do as a way to get hold of justice.”
