Arrest warrant is issued for California man 8 years after college student told cops he sexually assaulted her and a year after she received Facebook message reading: 'So I raped you'

 Authorities in Pennsylvania on Tuesday filed an arrest warrant in a 2013 campus attack at Gettysburg College, nearly eight years after the alleged victim went to police and a year after she received a disturbing Facebook message that said, 'So I raped you.'

Police say they are looking for 28-year-old Ian Cleary of Saratoga, California, but had not yet located him. The affidavit filed with the warrant accuses Cleary of stalking 18-year-old Shannon Keeler at a party in December 2013, following her home to her dorm and then sexually assaulting her.

Keeler says she was was attacked after helping another woman - Katayoun Amir-Aslani - get away from Cleary at the party. 

As he apologized and fled, Keeler texted friends on campus 'OMG please Help me,' according to the warrant.

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Authorities in Pennsylvania on Tuesday filed an arrest warrant in a 2013 campus attack on Shannon Keeler at Gettysburg College

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Warrant was issued a year after Keeler read this Facebook message, which Clearly had allegedly sent to her in December 2019 

Keeler had discussed the experience - and her long push for charges - in a May story by The Associated Press that detailed the frequent reluctance among prosecutors to file charges in campus rape cases. 

Keeler told the AP she did not know Amir-Aslani but helped her anyway. 

'All I know is that she needed a girl to help her get away from a creepy guy, and I was more than happy to be that girl,' said Keeler.

Keeler then walked home, with a friend, for safety.

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Keeler is pictured around the time of her rape in December 2013

Clearly, at the time an upperclassman, then allegedly snuck into Keeler's dorm and barged into her room while she pleaded with him and texted friends, including Amir-Aslani, for help. 

Keeler went to police hours after the encounter and had a rape kit done at a local hospital, only to graduate three years later without an arrest. 

Authorities at the time told her it was hard to prosecute cases when the victim had been drinking, she said. The rape kit was later lost.

'It has bothered me over the years that I was never able to do anything,' she told the Associated Press. 'If you're not going to help me, who are you going to help?'

Last year Keeler received a series of Facebook messages, which, not checking her account often, she did not see until six months after they were sent in December 2019.

'So I raped you,' the person said.

'I'll never do it to anyone ever again.

'I need to hear your voice.'

'I'll pray for you.'

Keeler shared the posts with the Gettysburg authorities in June 2020, prompting police to reopen the case. 

Police then linked the account to Cleary through a matching cell phone number, according to the affidavit. 

The warrant filed Tuesday was signed by a new county prosecutor, Adams County District Attorney Brian Sinnett, who previously said he cannot file charges unless a case meets the high bar needed for conviction.

Cleary left Gettysburg but denied any wrongdoing in an email to school officials, according to records that Keeler obtained.

He appeared to finish college at another school.

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Cleary left Gettysburg College without admitting wrongdoing and finished his studies at another school