“So I Raped You”

Hey there, folks. It is Tuesday, October the twenty first, and a man was just sentenced this week for a sexual assault he committed twelve years ago. And it took his victim doing her own investigation to get this crime solved. And it all came down to him make it a confession on Facebook and you know what it said, So I raped you with that. Welcome to this episode of Amy and TJ Roapes. That's getting a lot of headlines the fact that he wrote that message, it was on Facebook.

Well, here's the deal. She knew who.

Her attacker was almost immediately. She did all the right things. She texted for help as it was happening, She had her friends come over right after it happened, She went to the police, had a rape, and and did everything a rape victim is supposed to do to prove her case. And even after her assailant sent her that message in twenty nineteen, it still took years before he was actually found, arrested and held accountable.

This story is wild. You just went through all those steps. It's exactly what they tell women to do. And it's also anytime we do have a case, oftentimes that a defense will go after the fact, well why does she wait so long to report, or why didn't she tell anybody immediately? And all of those things. We know, those things come up, and this was a case where she did exactly exactly what everyone would have told a woman in this position to do, and still it took this long. I think that's the.

Right.

You applaud her for what she did, but man, it is sad that she had to do it.

I read through.

I was not aware of this, but there have been news out there, specifically the AP, the Associated Press, who has been following her story for years now, and they actually said it wasn't until they did a profile in twenty twenty one interviewing her about these Facebook messages, about the fact that she went back sent them back to police, and it was weeks after they published that article that boil.

All of a sudden an indictment showed up.

That's a shame.

That is a shame.

So we'll go back. This is twenty thirteen. This young lady. Again, she's been out there and been outspoken about this, so we can speak on who she is, but her name is Shannon Keeler. Would you say she's thirty years old? Now?

Thirty years old?

Now okay, But she was a freshman at Gettysburg College in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Now the incident, she describes that nice. She's stuck to this story. But it was a rape in twenty thirteen, after she had gone to a park.

Yes, and this was all verified by multiple witnesses because there was a another young woman with her. He who first had been i would say, approached by and bothered by this man who they described as this creepy.

Man at this party. Right, they were dancing, but he was going a little too far and even grabbed the woman, yeah.

Groping her heyes, grabbing her breast, grabbing her but all of that.

So she was going to this other woman, Shannon, they met at the party's kind of like help me get away from this guy. What ended up happening was the guy who they described as the creepy man, turned his attention and perhaps affection towards Shannon and actually followed her as they were leaving the party. She actually asked a male friend to walk her home because she was concerned

He actually knocked on the.

Door, the doorbell when she said she and immediately just panic at the time. So sexual assault, rape takes place there. Did you read this detail? She said?

He cried, Yes, afterwards, he cried after he raped her.

To who knows what that possible. That's just an odd and almost sinister detail to hear. But he eventually leaves, leaves school even but she gets with her friends. She goes back and spends the night with them. But she did everything along the way. She told her parents, She went to police, she did the rape kit, she documented, she did everything, but but no arrest was made because they were telling her, you hate to say it, alcohol, alcohol was involved.

Alcoholm She had been drinking at a party and they had the rape kit.

They actually had the dinny as she said.

She remembers the nurse saying, we got something, So she knows that they actually had physical evidence of well was left behind from a rape. I mean it was sperm some sort of DNA from the assailant, and she thought, okay, I've done that part. But once they then went police, they said, hey, there was alcoholic.

Bolics of this difficult situation.

They reached out this guy reportedly and by email. The email he denied it, and so they were kind of like, well, it's a he said.

She said, so there's nothing we can do.

That's it's tough to hear those details. Now. We're going to get more into that story in the second. But all of this again, this was in twenty thirteen. She would send police updates of witnesses and the phone numbers, even of friends. Hey this is somebody you could talk to. She got pushback, deny, deny, denied every time. Then you go, like you said, ropes. I think it was twenty nineteen the first messages started coming in. She got several Facebook messages.

They can't find him. Turns out this man his name is Ian Cleary. By the way, he is thirty two years old. He went on to another college in his home state of California, graduated, got his master's degree, worked for Tesla, and he was overseas for whatever reason. Ultimately, and I never figured out, did you see what? He was actually arrested for something completely different, something.

That I yes, he's nothing to do with anything.

Silent, But because he was arrested in France, his name popped up and they were able to find him. In twenty twenty four, he was finally arrested. So we are talking eleven years after the rape, so.

They finally get him back. He did plead guilty in July, but he was just sentenced this week, sentenced to two to four years in jail, two to four years for this assault. Again, he's been free for the past twelve but now he's going to get two to four years in prison. You were kind of I guess it's a little head scratching, but they to some I guess it might be. But the judge did take into consideration that he did apologize and confess to what he.

Had done, but he denied it four years left her twisting in the wind, unbelieved by a lot of people and probably feeling revictimized for that decade plus by this system, by the people who refuse to prosecute. She says. She remembers in twenty fifteen there was a two year I

But when that that guilty plea.

Was put in this awaiting sentencing, both sides asked for four to six.

Years, and yet the judge went, law, look, they have discretion and maybe he saw something in this man. Who knows. But the judge said this, and I don't know if you have a problem, you know what, let me not set it up that way. This is just what he said. The defendant has admitted his guilt, he's come forward and even though ten to eleven alarming years have passed in the meantime, we wouldn't be here today but for his hope for some kind of forgiveness and contrition.

I think this woman had been through so much because of this man. He chose to do what he did, he chose to deny it, he chose to leave the country, and because his guilt was nagging on him, or supposed to applauded him and were supposed to give him some sort of leniency for that. Look, I think four to six years was the appropriate sentence that both sides agreed upon. So for the judge to go a full two years less than what the defense was even asking to me is offensive.

It just is.

And he mentioned, you know, I have daughters and granddaughters, and he mentioned the judge.

Yes, he brought that into it, But.

I just can't stand behind that decision woman as a mother, I just don't think that because someone admitted something, and yes, I appreciate that, And four to six years still seems like not very many years given what he did and what he was willing to do to somebody. I mean, he thought this out, This wasn't some random thing like he made choices each step of play. Why should he not have to pay for his crime and.

He got eleven three years right that the judge had me up. But I am not judgment. It's not my job to do. It's this judges thing to do. And if I would have just heard two to four like oh okay and going on. But when he said that we wouldn't be here today but for his hope for some kind of forgiveness and contrition, that's as if we are only here today by the good deed of this man. That is offensive to the young lady. It's offensive to

I knew who he was. She knew who he was. The DNA proved who he was.

I know, you got to prove a case, but that one things for the victim to say, we're only here because he was a good enough guy. Damn that sting.

It really does, and it takes away any responsibility that the prosecution has. And look, a lot of folks now are looking at this case and even looking back, I understand from the outside looking in.

I don't know what it's like internally to be in.

A DA's office figure out what to prosecute, what not to prosecute. But I understand generally that rape is among and sexual assault is among the hardest or among the hardest cases to prove period.

I get that. But this system let this young woman down.

She had eyewitnesses, she had DNA, she had so many things that they wouldn't even consider charges against this slan.

She did the work. I mean she did her own I mean she handed it to him. Here, guys, here is are you witnesses, let's knocket out. Look, I'm not I don't want to take on the challenge or take on what prosecutors and a police have to do. That that's a hell of a job. And I you don't have unlimited resources and people in the office. You can't do every case. It's just one of these things. How does this slip through the cracks?

Well, this is why only one in five, and I think that is a low number of women who are sexually assaulted, specifically on college campus, has come forward because they understand this is what happens.

She talked about how people a detective even said.

To her, You're a pretty girl, you have your life in front of you, and it's just so offensive that even if they are believed and I'm not saying no one didn't believe her, it was just they were thinking it was probably.

Hard to be And I don't know is that that where we are.

There are challenges. They have to put their resources here or there, They're limited. I don't know. It seems like this would be a priority, but again we're on the outside. We don't know what they have to do. But folks, we told you about the one message that's getting the headline that he sent her on Facebook that said, so I rape you, but there were several more. Stay here, we'll tell you what those other message, as you said, and also we are going to let you hear what the victim in this case.

Ms.

Keeler said herself about why we even got today.

We continue our conversation today about this unbelievable case. Although it is all too common, unfortunately, this one does at least have an ending where there is some justice, but perhaps not enough, and it certainly came a decade beyond when it should have at this point, but thirty two year old Ian clearly sentenced this week to two to four years in prison for sexually assaulting then college freshman.

Her name was Shannon Keeler.

She is now thirty years old, and she has spent the better part of a decade trying to prove what happened to her in fact happened to her. And it took him actually reaching out via Facebook admitting it, and even after that admission, it still took another four to five years for him to actually have his day in court, and her day in court, perhaps even more importantly, not happened.

Did I see right? That she hadn't checked her Facebook messages and he had sent these over the course of a couple of years, but she got them all at one time to see that, right?

Yes, that's the way I understood it too. She was on vacation with boyfriend. You know you never check your dms. I actually probably do it. I know you've I don't think you've ever checked your dams. I probably only checked mine maybe once every couple of months.

She's doing it every couple of years. I get that it's a lot to keep up with.

Yes, so she sees several of these messages. Another said I'll never do it to anyone ever again. That's that's a hell of a confession, is it not.

He's basically wanting to admit to her because he's I mean, I can only get inside his head imagining the only reason why you would do this is relieve yourself of some sort of guilt you're feeling.

For getting away with it, so to speak. But you're also trying to.

Get her not to pursue charges or not to use this against you by telling her, please, please, I won't do it again, like, don't turn me in, but I won't do it again. But I want you to know that I'm acknowledging it and I'm sorry for it.

But does he think that's going to go by putting it in a Facebook message? I mean, how do you think this is going to go?

He's gotten away with it for so long.

He's writing confession you know what? He sent them to her, and he didn't hear back from her for years. Maybe he forgot about it. I'll be damn another message. I need to hear your voice. I don't know what that was about, but that's another one she got. And then another one on Facebook from the guy who raped her when she was a freshman in college, saying I'll pray for you. And that was a series of messages they were able to then trace back to him. They confirmed

The point being crazy enough when she sends and gives the police these Facebook messages, they went through the whole thing. Well, we'd have to track down the IP address and doesn't even look like he lives in the country anymore.

I mean they were dragging their feet.

They were almost like, ugh, paperwork, haven't you put this to bed already? And really, truly, it wasn't until Ap published story that things actually started to forward.

How many folks maybe listening, maybe gone through that or know somebody who had the same experience of trying to get somebody or maybe somebody in law enforcement to believe them to listen to what they're saying. That's tough, but a story like this, did you go full wow. I know this is one police department.

But right it makes me feel so. I mean, look, you have daughters.

I think about Annalise, who's nineteen years old, and that's about the age of this young woman. She might have even been younger, a freshman first semester, she was probably eighteen years.

Old, you know.

And I just think about, like she described who she was before that date in December, this excited, happy, go lucky cross player she was.

She had her whole life in front of her and she still does.

But what she thought of the world, how the world was all robbed taken from her in that moment, at that horrific hour, and the fact that no one stood up for, no one vended her, no one looked out for other women could have come into oh.

Yeah, decade.

I think about the fact that, Okay, as far as we know, no one else has come forward. But the fact that he actually went after two different women that same night because her friend has spoken out about her experiences grabbing her.

He assaulted to him that night.

It's hard to.

Imagine, and perhaps maybe the guilt of doing it made him stop, But it's hard to imagine that he just suddenly became this kind person who stopped assaulting women.

I don't know, but we don't know what he twelve years.

It really hasn't been explained at all to anybody, and I don't even know. I couldn't even find out why he had been arrested in France in the first place.

And while the arrest did come, as we say, a robe so late. When it did happen, Shannon Keeler had a quote here that kind of sums it all up. At the time, She said, while I am moved to tears by this result, which I have waited for over seven years at the time for I am mindful that this moment came because I went public with my story, which no survivor should have to do in order to obtain justice period that I mean, T shirts should be

And maybe the other thing I wanted to point out because this is also agreedious to me when I was the whole story behind this, or young woman who I have to applaud, What an amazing person to ever give up to keep fighting because it's exhausting, I can say, I want.

To go away, I want to boast to bed. It is what it is. I'm dumb thinking she pursued it.

But when she found out after she get gets these messages, goes to police and says, hey, look he's admitting it.

Like imagine the validation and.

Vindication you would feel in that moment, and then to find out that they not only destroyed.

Her rape kit, but she was told it was ever tested.

So here she is thinking full time, she's got this in a proof that at the very least there was sexual intercourse. I mean, you can't prove necessarily with just the DNA evidence, but at least you can prove that sexual and it's sexual encounter happened. Say it was against your Well, she believes that it was never that. She's just saying, that's how little I was regarded. That's how that's what little importance my story was to them.

My experience was law enforce.

That is a sad, sad statement to any woman out there who feels like they can.

Turn police when they're assaulted or justice.

It is a tough story. You applaud what she did, but your heart breaks that she had to do it. This is great that she's getting justice. She should not have gone through this, and this story does nothing, in my opinion, to help other women come forward.

No it doesn't.

This is and the judge giving him two years less than the defense was even asking for because he was such a good guy for admitting he raped a woman. I have a major problem with that as well. It was I just feel like this woman just I'm so happy that he is behind bars. I am so happy for her that she got someb bit of justice, but it's still appalling.

All right, Well, folks, we uh, this was one that jumped out at us that we thought you'd be interested as well, so I wanted to wanted to share, but as always, we appreciate you listening with us on DJ Holmes on Behalf My Dear Amy Robach. We'll talk to you as soon