Given his “sincere regrets”, former PQ MP Harold LeBel will be able to get out of prison, eight weeks after being sentenced to eight months in prison for sexual assault at the end of January. After pleading his innocence in court, he now claims to “totally believe” his victim’s version.
In a decision rendered on Tuesday by the Quebec Conditional Liberation Commission, the organization notes, despite the “objective seriousness” of his crime, the fact that Harold LeBel now shows “empathy towards the victim”.
After denying the sexual assault of which he was accused during the trial, the former deputy now shows himself to be “repentant” and “open” to the recommendations made to him in detention in order to “better understand the reasons underlying his the act”.
Recall that he was sentenced on January 26 to eight months in prison after being found guilty last November of the sexual assault of a young woman in her Rimouski apartment in 2017 while the latter slept there with a mutual friend. in the context of a business trip.
His lawyer’s strategy
The young woman, whose identity is still protected by a court order, explained during the trial that Harold LeBel had notably unfastened her bra, then spent the night touching her while she remained motionless , unable to sleep.
The 60-year-old ex-politician claimed his innocence and told the court that a kiss between the two was consensual.
However, according to what can be read in the Commission’s decision, Harold LeBel explained to the officer in charge of assessing his file that he had pleaded not guilty at the time since he adhered then to “the strategy recommended by [son] criminal lawyer”.
During the trial, the ex-deputy would in fact have realized that he had “an erroneous perception” of the facts with which he was accused. “You say you totally believe the victim’s version and you want to understand how you came to do these things. You express sincere remorse towards the victim,” the Commission notes.
A weakened self-esteem
The officer in charge of assessing his case describes him as “an individual with weakened self-esteem, with unmet emotional and sexual needs when acting out”.
The 60-year-old man will thus be able to leave prison at a quarter of his sentence in order to complete it in a halfway house, under several conditions. Note, under Quebec Corrective System Act, an inmate can be released on parole at one-sixth of their sentence, if eligible.
During his two months of detention, Harold LeBel was not the subject of any disciplinary report, notes the Commission.
He will now be taken care of by a halfway house where his return to the community “will therefore be gradual and supervised”.
With Louis-Samuel Perron, The Press