French court rules that American detained after Facebook message ‘So I raped you’ can be extradited

LYON, France (AP) — A French court ruled Monday that the American man accused of sexually assaulting a Pennsylvania college student in 2013 and later sending her the message “So I raped you” on Facebook can be extradited to the United States.

Ian Cleary, 31, of Saratoga, California, was arrested in April in the city of Metz in northeastern France after a three-year manhunt. He has been in custody since his arrest, awaiting extradition proceedings.

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

The ruling is final. Cleary’s case is now the responsibility of the French Ministry of Justice, which must prepare and submit the extradition order to the French Prime Minister. While waiting for the Prime Minister’s signature, Cleary remains detained in France.

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

Cleary has been the subject of an international manhunt since Pennsylvania authorities issued a felony arrest warrant in the case in 2021, just weeks after the Associated Press published an article detailing local prosecutors’ reluctance to prosecute sex crimes on campus.

The warrant accuses Cleary of stalking an 18-year-old Gettysburg College student at a party, sneaking into her dorm room, and sexually assaulting her while she texted friends for help. He was a 20-year-old student at Gettysburg College at the time, but never returned to campus.

Gettysburg accuser Shannon Keeler submitted to a rape investigation the same day she was attacked in 2013. She collected witnesses and evidence and pressed authorities for years to file charges. She went to authorities again in 2021 after discovering the 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 normally identify victims of sexual assault without their permission, which Keeler has given. The plaintiff’s attorney in Pennsylvania, whom we reached on Monday, declined to comment on the development.

According to the June 2021 arrest warrant, police confirmed that the Facebook account used to send the messages belonged to Ian Cleary. Adams County District Attorney Brian Sinnett, who filed the warrant, declined to comment on the developments when reached Monday.

The local prosecutor in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday.

After leaving Gettysburg, Cleary earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Santa Clara University near his family home in California, worked for Tesla and then moved to France for several years, according to his website, where he also describes his self-published medieval novels.

Originally from Moorestown, New Jersey, Keeler stayed to complete her degree at Gettysburg and help lead the women’s lacrosse team to the national title.

In 2023, two years after the warrant was filed, Keeler and her lawyers wondered how he managed to evade capture in the age of digital tracking. The U.S. Marshals Service believed he was likely overseas and on the move, even though he was the subject of an Interpol alert, known as a Red Notice.

Across the U.S., very few campus rapes are prosecuted, partly because victims are afraid to go to police and partly because prosecutors are reluctant to take cases to trial, which can be difficult to win, the AP investigation found.

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

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Maryclaire Dale reported from Philadelphia.

Nicolas Vaux-Montagny and Maryclaire Dale, The Associated Press