Overview

• On July 17 in Gettysburg, Pa., Cleary, 32, formally pleaded guilty to a single count of second-degree sexual assault stemming from the 2013 dormitory attack.
• Prosecution and defense jointly recommended a four- to eight-year prison sentence, with Judge Kevin Hess scheduled to impose sentencing on October 20.
• Cleary was located and arrested in Metz, France, in April 2024 under an Interpol warrant and extradited to the U.S. in January after years as a fugitive.
• Shannon Keeler reported the assault hours after it occurred and reignited legal action in 2021 upon discovering Cleary’s Facebook admission, “So I raped you.”
• The case has drawn attention to prosecutors’ past reluctance to pursue historic campus sexual assault claims and highlighted the impact of survivor advocacy and digital evidence on securing accountability.