Kenneth Cleary was a man who was responsible for sexually assaulting numerous women in New York, Washington, D.C., and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was previously charged with possession of stolen property. He was married to Meredith Cleary and had a young son.
History[]
He was questioned for the rape of Harper Anderson, but Harper couldn't identify him and he was released. After that, Harper started stalking Kenneth and harassing his wife. Harper witnessed Kenneth assaulting Lori Thatcher, but after Harper smashed his car with a crowbar, she was an unreliable witness.
After Meredith Cleary told the SVU detectives about the jewelry that Kenneth gave her (which he stole from the women he raped), Kenneth was arrested and charged. But during the trial, Meredith broke spousal privilege which caused a mistrial. In the end, Kenneth was shot and killed in self-defense by his wife in her apartment while he began abusing her. However, its implied that his wife purposefully threw the case and conspired with Harper to murder Kenneth and make it look like self-defense. (SVU: "Closure")
Known Victims[]
- Unknown dates:
- Unknown locations: Three unnamed women
- New York City, New York: Three unnamed women
- November 1, 1999, New York City, New York: Harper Anderson
- 2000:
- April 30, New York City, New York: Jane Tyler
- Philadelphia, Pennsylvania:
- June 13: Susan Welch
- August 26: Mona Sharpe
- September 5: Unnamed woman
- September 15: Joyce Rich
- New York City, New York:
- October 22-23: Lori Thatcher
- November 3-4: Meredith Cleary (his wife; abused and attempted to rape)