A man who evaded authorities for three years in Europe after being charged with the sexual assault of a Pennsylvania college student in 2013 has been brought back to the United States, according to news reports.

Ian Cleary, 31, was apprehended following a prolonged three-year search.

On Monday, a ruling from the Court of Appeal in Metz, France, permitted his extradition to the U.S., as reported by the Associated Press. He could not be extradited until the French Justice Ministry issued an extradition order, per the AP.

The French Justice Ministry has not yet responded to requests from YSL News for comments, but the New York Times noted that French authorities handed Cleary over to U.S. officials at Paris Charles de Gaulle airport.

Later Thursday evening, Cleary was taken to Adams County, Pennsylvania, as confirmed by a clerk at the Adams County Magisterial District Court to YSL News on Tuesday afternoon. He faced a judge for an arraignment on Friday morning, according to the clerk.

Due to concerns about him potentially fleeing again, the judge deemed Cleary a flight risk, resulting in the denial of bail. A hearing for Cleary has been scheduled for January 29.

Cleary, who had been evading charges for three years, was arrested in April after living in France as a “homeless transient,” as per Gettysburg Police Detective Chris Evans’ earlier statements to YSL News.

Suspect allegedly contacted victim repeatedly after the attack, warrant states

Cleary, originally from Saratoga, California, faces serious felony sexual assault charges.

The victim, Shannon Keeler, a former Gettysburg College student, reported the assault to law enforcement. Typically, the identities of sexual assault victims are kept confidential, but Keeler agreed to release her name.

This incident dates back to December 15, 2013, according to an arrest warrant obtained by YSL News on Tuesday. Keeler stated that she and a friend had attended a party to celebrate the end of finals. During the party, she felt uneasy due to Cleary’s behavior, as noted in the warrant.

After leaving the party with her friend, Keeler noticed that Cleary was following them. As they headed towards her dorm, Cleary attempted to pay her friend $20 to leave. Her friend refused and told him to go away, which he did, according to the warrant.

Around 2:45 a.m., after her friend dropped her off at her dorm, Cleary knocked on her door about ten minutes later. Expecting her friend, she opened the door, only to find Cleary had entered her room.

Inside, Cleary began kissing Keeler. They then “laid down on her bed, and he took off her pants, proceeding to have intercourse with her,” as stated in the warrant.

The document also reported that Keeler did not give her consent and questioned, “What are you doing?” Cleary disregarded her pleas to stop. After the act, he said, “I’m sorry. Are you okay?” before leaving, the warrant indicated.

Keeler reported the incident to the police and underwent a rape test the following day, as detailed by the AP. However, it took eight years for authorities to file charges. They acted only after Cleary started messaging Keeler on Facebook.

As noted in the arrest warrant, Keeler reached out to the Adams County District Attorney’s Office in May 2020, informing them about messages she received from Cleary via Facebook Messenger.

The messages included:

• Dec. 8, 2019 – “I need to hear your voice. I need to know if I did it or not. I wanted to but I couldn’t. Don’t worry.”
• Dec. 8, 2019 – “I’ll wait for you. I’ll pray for you. I kissed you. I grabbed your breasts. Then I tried to but I couldn’t because I was high. Then I had to catch a plane. That’s why I ran. It was like (a) 5 am plane.”
• Dec. 9, 2019 – “I played with you but I didn’t penetrate you.”
• Dec. 9, 2019 – “So I raped you.”
• Dec. 9, 2019 – “I’ll never do it to anyone ever again. I’m going to stay.”

By the time police issued an arrest warrant in June 2021, Cleary had already left the country, which led to the involvement of the U.S. Marshals Service.

Suspect reportedly lived as a ‘homeless transient,’ according to detective

Evans from the Gettysburg Police Department mentioned that Cleary’s mother had previously informed authorities that he was outside of the country.

“He comes from a wealthy family, so it seems strange for him to be living as a homeless transient unless he was trying to escape these charges,” Evans stated to YSL News earlier.

When asked if Cleary would face further charges for fleeing to Europe, Evans indicated that such a decision rested with the district attorney’s office and he had no plans to pursue additional charges at that time.

Andrea Levy, the attorney representing Keeler, did not respond immediately to inquiries from YSL News on Tuesday afternoon.

As of Tuesday, it remained unclear whether Cleary has legal representation.

Saleen Martin is a reporter from Norfolk, Virginia – the 757. Follow her on Twitter at @SaleenMartin