Latest news with #Keeler
New Indian Express
18-07-2025
- New Indian Express
Man who sent Facebook message about committing a 2013 campus sexual assault pleads guilty
GETTYSBURG, Pa.: An American extradited from France to face charges that he sexually assaulted a fellow Pennsylvania college student in 2013 — and later sent her a Facebook message that said 'So I raped you' — pleaded guilty Thursday. Ian Cleary, 32, pleaded guilty to second-degree sexual assault more than a decade after Shannon Keeler says he sneaked into her first-year dorm at Gettysburg College on the eve of winter break and assaulted her. Cleary's guilty plea was the first time she'd seen him since the assault. 'I had been thinking about this moment for 12 years,' said Keeler, who clenched her husband's hand as Cleary was led into court by deputies. She called it a surreal moment. A decade ago, a former prosecutor had declined the case. 'It's taken a lot of twists and turns to get to this point,' said Keeler, now 30. 'It took a lot of people doing the right thing to get us here.' Judge Kevin Hess set an Oct. 20 sentencing date. The two sides proposed a four- to eight-year sentence, which the judge can accept or not. Keeler, in interviews with The Associated Press, described her decade-long efforts to persuade authorities to pursue charges, starting hours after the assault. She renewed the quest in 2021, after finding a series of disturbing Facebook messages from his account. Cleary has been in custody since his arrest on minor, unrelated charges in Metz, France, in April 2024. A defense lawyer told the judge Thursday that Cleary experienced several mental health episodes there and was hospitalized around the time he sent the Facebook messages in 2019.
Los Angeles Times
17-07-2025
- Los Angeles Times
Man who sent Facebook message about committing a campus sexual assault pleads guilty
GETTYSBURG, Pa. — An American accused of sexually assaulting a fellow Pennsylvania college student in 2013 and later sending her a Facebook message that said, 'So I raped you,' has pleaded guilty months after being extradited from France to face the allegations. Ian Cleary, 32, who was raised in Silicon Valley before attending Gettysburg College in Pennsylvania, had hired a private lawyer to review the evidence as he considered a potential plea. Judge Kevin Hess set an Oct. 20 sentencing date. The two sides proposed a four- to eight-year sentence, which the judge can accept or not. Accuser Shannon Keeler, in interviews with the Associated Press, described her decade-long efforts to persuade authorities to pursue charges, starting hours after she says Cleary, a third-year student, sneaked into her first-year dorm on the eve of winter break. She renewed the quest in 2021 after finding a series of disturbing Facebook messages from his account. Keeler faced Cleary in the courtroom Thursday for the first time since the attack. She clutched her husband's hand as Cleary entered the courtroom in handcuffs and listened stoically as he gave brief answers to the judge's questions. Cleary has been in custody since his arrest on minor, unrelated charges in Metz, France, in April 2024. A defense lawyer told the judge Thursday that Cleary experienced several mental health episodes there and was hospitalized around the time he sent the Facebook message in 2019. The second-degree sexual assault charge carries a maximum 10 years in prison. His family members have declined to comment on the case and have not attended his court hearings. Cleary, who grew up in Saratoga, Calif., left Gettysburg after the assault and finished college near home. He then got a master's degree and worked for Tesla before moving overseas, where he spent time writing medieval fiction, according to his online posts. The AP published an investigation on the case and on the broader reluctance among prosecutors to pursue campus sex assault charges in May 2021. An indictment followed weeks later. Authorities in the U.S. and Europe had been trying to track down Cleary until his capture in France. The AP typically does not name people who say they have been sexually assaulted unless they come forward publicly, as Keeler has done. Dale writes for the Associated Press.
San Francisco Chronicle
17-07-2025
- San Francisco Chronicle
Man who sent Facebook message about committing a campus sexual assault pleads guilty
GETTYSBURG, Pa. (AP) — An American accused of sexually assaulting a fellow Pennsylvania college student in 2013 and later sending her a Facebook message that said 'So I raped you' has pleaded guilty months after being extradited from France to face the allegations. Ian Cleary, 32, who was raised in Silicon Valley before attending Gettysburg College in Pennsylvania, had hired a private lawyer to review the evidence as he considered a potential plea. Judge Kevin Hess set an Oct. 20 sentencing date. The two sides proposed a four- to eight-year sentence, which the judge can accept or not. Accuser Shannon Keeler, in interviews with The Associated Press, described her decade-long efforts to persuade authorities to pursue charges, starting hours after she says Cleary, a third-year student, sneaked into her first-year dorm on the eve of winter break. She renewed the quest in 2021, after finding a series of disturbing Facebook messages from his account that said, 'So I raped you.' Keeler faced Cleary in the courtroom Thursday for the first time since the attack. She clutched her husband's hand as Cleary entered the courtroom in handcuffs and listened stoically as he gave brief answers to the judge's questions. Cleary has been in custody since his arrest on minor, unrelated charges in Metz, France, in April 2024. A defense lawyer told the judge Thursday that Cleary experienced several mental health episodes there and was hospitalized around the time he sent the Facebook message in 2019. The second-degree sexual assault charge carries a maximum 10 years in prison. His family members have declined to comment on the case and have not attended his court hearings. Cleary, who grew up in Saratoga, California, left Gettysburg after the assault and finished college near home. He then got a master's degree and worked for Tesla before moving overseas, where he spent time writing medieval fiction, according to his online posts. The AP published an investigation on the case and on the broader reluctance among prosecutors to pursue campus sex assault charges in May 2021. An indictment followed weeks later. Authorities in the U.S. and Europe had been trying to track Cleary down until his capture in France. The AP typically does not name people who say they have been sexually assaulted unless they come forward publicly, as Keeler has done.
Los Angeles Times
21-06-2025
- Sport
- Los Angeles Times
Why do coaches coach? Commander of USS Abraham Lincoln gives reason
Dan Keeler, the new captain of the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, called up his football coaches from his days at Sherman Oaks Notre Dame High earlier this week, along with his English teacher, to give them a salute for the impact they made on a teenager now in charge of one of the Navy's most powerful ships. The speech by Keeler on Wednesday in Coronado at a changing of the command ceremony offered the real reason coaches coach and teachers teach — to make a difference in a student's life. 'I learned more about hard work, grit, determination and how to handle pain, honestly, from this group,' he said. He recalled when Notre Dame coach Kevin Rooney gave him a recommendation letter for the Naval Academy: 'Coach Rooney, when you handed me the letter, you said, 'I think you're going to be good at this,' and you were right.' Keeler added, 'There were plenty of championships, but I don't think that's how these people measure success. I was a very mediocre backup quarterback and defensive back. If I was playing in a football game, we were winning by a lot. 'Those metrics of winning and losing weren't the only things that mattered. They were important. These educators took all the time to get the best out of their students and I was one of them. They saw something in me and chose to make a positive impact, and I am forever grateful.'
Los Angeles Times
04-06-2025
- General
- Los Angeles Times
Dan Keeler went from Notre Dame High to commander of USS Abraham Lincoln
For all the push-ups completed, for all the running drills endured and for all the yelling received during his days playing high school football at Sherman Oaks Notre Dame High in the 1990s, Dan Keeler is getting the last laugh later this month when he takes command of the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln in Coronado. 'Now I'm going to have to salute him,' former Notre Dame coach Kevin Rooney quipped. Keeler, who graduated from high school in 1994 and went on to the Naval Academy, is taking command of one of the Navy's most prominent ships. 'It is incredible that he has earned this responsibility,' Rooney said. Keeler was a defensive back and track athlete for the Knights and is one of five siblings who attended Notre Dame. Track coach Joe McNab, who just won his 11th Southern Section championship, was his defensive backs coach. 'Good kid,' McNab said. 'He's a guy who fit all the boxes in terms of being a great kid and doing things right,' Rooney said. Rooney, McNab and former football assistant Jeff Kraemer will make the trip to the San Diego area for the change-of-command ceremony. For some reason, Keeler invited his former high school coaches after all those days of sweat and tears in Sherman Oaks. 'If I had known he was going to be so powerful, I wouldn't have made him run so much,' Kraemer said. Keeler isn't the first Notre Dame graduate to rise in the Navy ranks. Retired Adm. Mike Mullen was chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from 2007 to 2011 and graduated from Notre Dame in 1964. Mullen once came back to his alma mater to address the student body. Rooney, who retired in 2019 after 40 years as football coach, said his goal was always to 'help kids become great people and do things right.' Coaches know that the best day of all is when a graduate comes back to campus and tells them how they are doing and explains how lessons learned as teenagers really made a difference in their life. As summer begins and graduates move on with their lives and the class of 2029 arrives, it's a good reminder to everyone that it's not wins and losses that matter most in high school. It's teaching life lessons and preparing students to become adults, good people and good community members. To see a former Los Angeles-area high school football player take charge of an aircraft carrier is proof that all that running to gain stamina, all that preaching to work together as a team, all those lectures that practice makes perfect … it's true. You only need to listen, learn and dedicate yourself to reaching a goal. A salute to all the coaches and teachers who understand their real job is to create opportunities for their students to succeed through wisdom and inspiration. Capt. Keeler, Bravo Zulu and Anchors Aweigh. Be safe.
