Who is Shanon Keeler? New Jersey woman gets disturbing Facebook messages from rapist 8 years after assault
MOORESTOWN, NEW JERSEY: Shanon Keeler's world turned upside down last year when in a series of Facebook messages, her rapist confessed to raping her. Keeler was enjoying a nice weekend getaway with her boyfriend when she happened to check her Facebook messages and stumbled upon a disturbing thread of messages sent six months earlier, which were all confessions from her rapist.
The messages read, "So I raped you", “I’ll never do it to anyone ever again”, “I need to hear your voice” and “I’ll pray for you.” The horrifying messages brought back some disturbing memories from that dreadful night of December 14, 2013, which was also Keeler's final night of her first semester at Gettysburg College. An upperclassman stalked Keeler at a party and barged into her room in the dorm to rape her while she begged him. Eight years later, Keeler is seeking justice for the horrible crime committed against her with the only piece of evidence being a confession on Facebook.
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It's irony at its best that in the era of women empowerment and feminism flagship movements, the chances of college sexual assault victims getting justice are slim. Only one out of every five college sexual assault victims report to police and even if they do, their cases are less likely to be investigated, citing the reasons that the 'victim was drinking' or 'victim knew the perpetrator'. Keeler, 26, who was 18 at the time of the assault, said, "It has bothered me over the years that I was never able to do anything. If you’re not going to help me, who are you going to help? Because I do have evidence."
What happened on the night of December 14, 2013?
In Keeler's words, "I was loving college. I had a great first semester. I would say Shannon was full of life on December 14, 2013. You know, I didn’t have a worry in the world." Keeler, who was a goalie for the lacrosse team, had to stay back an extra day at the campus as a snowstorm had postponed her Spanish finals by a day. Most of the students had left the campus by then. After the exam, Keeler met up with her friends at the frat house for a fun night of drinking and games. An upperclassman, who did not belong to the frat, started bothering a sophomore, Katayoun Amir-Aslani.
In Amir-Aslani's words, "I met this guy. And we started dancing and kissing. But then he grabbed my chest and my crotch and told me he wanted to take me away. And so I freaked out and told him I needed to go to the bathroom." Amir-Aslani found Keeler in there and sought her help. The tall athlete then shooed him off.
Later in the night, the same guy tried to 'get gross' with Keeler on the dance floor. Later, a male friend walked Keeler and Amir-Aslani back to their dorms with the upperclassman following them all the way and even offering $20 to the male friend to leave them alone. No one knows how he found his way to Keeler's room after she had gone to bed. Hearing a knock and presuming it must be a friend this late in the night, Keeler opened the door and found the upperclassman instead. In Keeler's words, "I opened it and I texted my friends that he was here and I needed help. And he raped me. As soon as he did, he started crying after. He said, ‘I didn’t mean to hurt you. Did I hurt you?’” And then he ran away.”
Keeler did not even know his name.
What happened to the suspect?
Keeler met with Gettysburg police within a week but the meeting did not go well. Her mother Monica recalled, "The impression was, there are so many of these (campus) incidents, how could we ever investigate all this?” The suspect was identified by others at the party, but he left Gettysburg and denied all allegations in an email to school officials. His withdrawal ended the school’s investigation, Keeler said. The Associated Press tried to reach the 28-year-old man via every possible means but in vain. The man has not been identified as he has not been charged.
Keeler's 'ultimate victory' against her rapist
Keeler stayed at Gettysburg after the incident and called it “the ultimate victory” over her attacker. She still has the hospital report of the exam, along with her police complaint, witness statements, text messages, campus records and copies of the suspect’s blog posts over the years, which showed him living in Europe for a while.
Keeler believes she will get justice as she has a strong case, at least stronger than most rape victims. Keeler will keep pushing for justice after eight years of that fateful night. Authorities in Adams County are looking at Keeler’s case since she retained a lawyer and showed them the Facebook messages last June. The 12-year statute of limitations has not run.