LYON, France (AP) — A French court docket dominated on Monday that the American man accused of sexually assaulting a Pennsylvania faculty pupil in 2013 and later sending her a Fb message that mentioned, “So I raped you,” could be extradited to the US.

Ian Cleary, 31, of Saratoga, California, was detained in April within the metropolis of Metz in northeastern France after a three-year search. He has been held in custody pending extradition proceedings since his arrest.

The Court docket of Enchantment in Metz mentioned that Cleary could be extradited. When requested if he wished to be extradited or not, in keeping with French regulation, Cleary refused, prosecutors mentioned in an announcement Monday. His refusal could delay the extradition course of, however it gained’t cease it.

The ruling is closing. Cleary’s case is now the duty of the French Justice Ministry, which should put together and submit the extradition order for the French prime minister. Whereas he awaits the prime minister’s signature, Cleary stays detained in France.

Justice Ministry officers didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.

Cleary had been the topic of a world search since authorities in Pennsylvania issued a 2021 felony warrant within the case weeks after an Related Press story detailed the reluctance of native prosecutors to pursue campus intercourse crimes.

The arrest warrant accuses Cleary of stalking an 18-year-old Gettysburg School pupil at a celebration, sneaking into her dorm and sexually assaulting her whereas she texted associates for assist. He was a 20-year-old Gettysburg pupil on the time, however didn’t return to campus.

The Gettysburg accuser, Shannon Keeler, had a rape examination accomplished the identical day she was assaulted in 2013. She gathered witnesses and proof and spent years urging officers to file expenses. She went to authorities once more in 2021 after discovering the Fb messages that appeared to return from Cleary’s account.

“So I raped you,” the sender had written in a string of messages.

“I’ll by no means do it to anybody ever once more.”

“I would like to listen to your voice.”

“I’ll pray for you.”

The AP doesn’t sometimes establish sexual assault victims with out their permission, which Keeler has granted. The accuser’s lawyer in Pennsylvania, reached on Monday, declined to touch upon the event.

Based on the June 2021 warrant, police verified that the Fb account used to ship the messages belonged to Ian Cleary. Adams County District Legal professional Brian Sinnett, who filed it, declined to touch upon developments when reached Monday.

After leaving Gettysburg, Cleary earned undergraduate and graduate levels from Santa Clara College, close to his household dwelling in California, labored for Tesla, after which moved to France for a number of years, in accordance with his web site, which describes his self-published medieval fiction.

Keeler, initially from Moorestown, New Jersey, stayed on to graduate from Gettysburg and assist lead the ladies’s lacrosse crew to a nationwide title.

By 2023, two years after the warrant was filed, Keeler and her legal professionals questioned how he was avoiding seize within the age of digital monitoring. The U.S. Marshals Service thought he was doubtless abroad and on the transfer, whilst he was the topic of an Interpol alert known as a crimson discover.

Throughout the U.S., only a few campus rapes are prosecuted, each as a result of victims concern going to police and prosecutors hesitate to convey circumstances that may be onerous to win, the AP investigation discovered.

Keeler, when the warrant was issued, mentioned she was grateful, however knew it solely occurred “as a result of I went public with my story, which no survivor ought to should do in an effort to get hold of justice.”

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Dale reported from Philadelphia.