Two years have passed since charges were filed against Ian T. Cleary, a former Gettysburg College student and Silicon Valley resident, for the 2013 campus sexual assault case involving Shannon Keeler. The crime received nationwide attention when the alleged attacker sent a chilling Facebook message to Keeler that stated, “So I raped you,” according to Mercury News. Despite the disturbing message, Cleary has continued to evade authorities and leave many questioning how this is possible in today's interconnected world.
Shannon Keeler, now 28, and her legal team, led by Andrea Levy, legal director of the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape, struggle to comprehend how Cleary remains undetected given today's technology. In a world where people are constantly tracked through their cellphones, internet connections, security cameras, and credit card transactions, they pose questions about Cleary's resources, travels, and potential false identity, as reported by CBS News.
Keeler underwent the assault on a snowy December night in her dorm room at Gettysburg College. She immediately reached out to friends for help and went to the police the same day. For years, Keeler pleaded with local officials to take action and file charges, even after presenting them with the incriminating Facebook messages she discovered in 2020. In a remarkable turn of events, the charges were filed shortly after Keeler went public in an Associated Press story that scrutinized the reluctance of local agencies to prosecute campus sexual assaults. However, the search for Cleary continues to be fruitless even two years after the charges were filed.
Keeler has bravely attempted to move forward with her life despite the emotional toll of the unresolved case, working for a software company, and preparing for her upcoming wedding. However, the impact of Cleary's evasion of justice is immeasurable as it continues to affect not only Keeler's life but also her family and her partner. Addressing the human cost of the situation, Andrea Levy remarked on the struggles Keeler faced in pushing for the case to progress, only for Cleary to continue living his life with apparent impunity.
After leaving Gettysburg College, Cleary, 30, graduated from Santa Clara University in California and later worked for Tesla before relocating to France for several years, as stated on his website. There, he pursued his passion for writing medieval fiction. Adams County District Attorney Brian Sinnett, who filed the arrest warrant in June 2021, expressed frustration over the long-running search. Sinnett ponders the potential resources Cleary is accessing, and the involvement of any accomplices.
Despite messages to Cleary's father, a marketing executive and professor in California, and his mother in Baltimore, there has been no response from the family. With the search led by the U.S. Marshals Service, an Interpol Red Notice has been issued to request global police agencies to detain Cleary. However, Cleary is not yet listed in the public database, which only includes a small number of rape and sexual assault cases. Deputy U.S. Marshal Phil Lewis, warrant supervisor for the office in the Middle District of Pennsylvania, reiterated the authorities' commitment to the case, stating that crimes against women and children are taken seriously and made a priority.
As awareness of sexual assault increases with movements like #MeToo, both college students and high-profile figures such as Bill Cosby and Donald Trump's accusers continue to seek accountability and justice. Students in California are lobbying for campus health centers to store rape kits on site or cover the costs of transport for victims requiring hospital exams, as mentioned in an article on the Los Angeles Times. Furthermore, organizations like End Rape on Campus are developing tools to make data on sexual assaults at educational institutions more accessible.
Despite advancements in technology and a growing emphasis on addressing campus sexual assault, Keeler's pursuit of justice remains an excruciating, drawn-out process. Nearly a decade has passed since she first reported the attack and Cleary's departure from the college, which halted the Title IX investigation. Keeler now awaits the day she can finally close this painful chapter of her life, hoping for a breakthrough in the case of her alleged attacker, who remains on the run and seemingly undetected.
