Man who sent Facebook message about committing a campus sexual assault pleads guilty

GETTYSBURG, Pa. (AP) — An American accused of sexually assaulting a fellow Pennsylvania college student in 2013 and later sending her a Facebook message that said “So I raped you” has pleaded guilty months after being extradited from France to face the allegations. Ian Cleary, 32, who was raised in Silicon Valley before attending Gettysburg College in Pennsylvania, had hired a private lawyer to review the evidence as he considered a potential plea. Judge Kevin Hess set an Oct. 20 sentencing date. The two sides proposed a four- to eight-year sentence, which the judge can accept or not. Accuser Shannon Keeler, in interviews with The Associated Press, described her decade-long efforts to persuade authorities to pursue charges, starting hours after she says Cleary, a third-year student, 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 faced Cleary in the courtroom Thursday for the first time since the attack. She clutched her husband’s hand as Cleary entered the courtroom in handcuffs and listened stoically as he gave brief answers to the judge’s questions. Cleary has
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