An American sought by police after allegedly writing "so I raped you" and various infuriating platitudes to the victim on Facebook was arrested in France this week.
A prosecutor in Metz, France, confirmed Tuesday that Ian Thomas Cleary, 31, of Saratoga, California, had been taken into custody last month and will be held pending extradition proceedings. Cleary had been the subject of an international search since authorities in Pennsylvania issued a 2021 felony warrant in the case weeks after an Associated Press story detailed the reluctance of local prosecutors to pursue campus sex crimes. The arrest warrant accuses Cleary of stalking an 18-year-old Gettysburg College student at a party, sneaking into her dorm and sexually assaulting her while she texted friends for help.
Getting the U.S. authorities to care about this guy was a decade-long legal quest for the victim.
"So I raped you," the person said in a burst of unread messages sent six months earlier. "I'll never do it to anyone ever again."
"I need to hear your voice."
"I'll pray for you."
Eight years later, she still hopes to persuade authorities in Pennsylvania to make an arrest, armed now with perhaps her strongest piece of evidence: his alleged confession, sent via social media.
I know it's said with hindsight, but the photo says it all. It seems almost to say it specifically, doesn't it?
Previously: Stanford rapist Brock Turner appeals sentence
