(Quebec) Former PQ Harold LeBel was convicted of sexual assault Wednesday at the Rimouski courthouse.
The jury delivered its verdict after two days of deliberation. The 12 jurors – 9 women and 3 men – therefore concluded that the man had assaulted the complainant beyond a reasonable doubt in October 2017.
The juries had asked Tuesday to listen to the testimony that the complainant had made of this evening which occurred more than five years ago. Recall that she says she lived an “endless night” in the Rimouski apartment of the ex-politician, some 30 years her senior.
The young woman, whose identity is still protected by a court order, explained in court that the man tried to kiss her, undid her bra and then spent the night touching her.
The 60-year-old ex-politician proclaimed his innocence. He instead told the court that their kiss was consensual. According to him, he simply lay down in the same bed as the complainant, then woke up with his arms on her randomly from sleep. The jury didn’t believe him.
The man will know his sentence later and could always appeal this verdict.
Recall that Harold LeBel was expelled from the Parti Québécois caucus in December 2020 in the wake of his arrest. The man was elected MP for Rimouski in 2014, then re-elected in 2018. He chose not to stand for re-election last October.
“Thank you for letting me stick with you”
In addition to the – very eloquent – testimony of the victim, the Crown had presented to the court exchanges between the two. In a text message sent the day after the events, Harold LeBel wrote: “Thank you for letting me stick with you”.
In a February 2020 email exchange, Mr. LeBel apologized to the complainant and wrote: “I have no memory of any of this. »
“Do you apologize for things you didn’t do? Do you regret things you didn’t do? “, asked the jury the Crown prosecutor, Ms.e Manon Gaudreault.
The complainant explained to the court that she had waited almost three years before filing a complaint because she was afraid to denounce a deputy who had “a great reputation” and who was loved by all.
It was the arrest of the former PQ leader that convinced her to contact the police. “It really marked me. Because in political circles there was a lot of hearsay about André Boisclair […] People were probably aware, ”said the complainant at the Rimouski courthouse.
She says she began to wonder if other people might be victimized by Harold LeBel if she remained silent.
In his pleadings, Mr. LeBel’s lawyer had tried to raise implausibilities in the young woman’s testimony.
Me Maxime Roy said he was surprised that his client had succeeded “on the first try, with one hand, to unfasten her bra”. Or that the complainant went to bed after the episode of the kiss and the bra without worrying “about the fate of her friend who sleeps next door”.
“As she trembles with fear, just minutes after she decides to undress and take a shower” in the locked bathroom, said Me Roy to the members of the jury. “How can you be more vulnerable than naked in a shower? »