Granite Falls man admits to choking, sexually assaulting girlfriend in St. Catherine dorm room – West Central Tribune

ST. PAUL — A 20-year-old Granite Falls, Minn., man admitted in court Friday, July 12, to strangling and sexually assaulting his girlfriend in her dorm room at St. Catherine University in September.

Keanu Avery Labatte pleaded guilty in Ramsey County District Court to an amended charge of second-degree criminal sexual conduct in connection with the assault at St. Paul University.

In exchange for the plea, the prosecution agreed to drop four other charges: two counts of first-degree sexual conduct and one count each of domestic assault by strangulation and threats of violence.

A maximum sentence of 7 1/2 years in prison is also included in the plea deal, which comes just days before the jury trial begins. Labatte remains free on $80,000 bail ahead of a Nov. 4 sentencing hearing.

Labatte’s lawyer, Thomas Beito, said Friday that his client admitted to “choking” the woman during the attack.

“He did not confess to the other salacious details involved here, such as the waterboarding, the hostage-taking or the kidnapping,” Beito said. “We deny that this happened.”

Beito said he would plead with Judge Kellie Charles to have Labatte sentenced to probation, “because of his age, the fact that he has no significant criminal history.”

Dennis Gerhardstein, a spokesman for the Ramsey County District Attorney’s Office, said prosecutors will ask that Labatte receive the full 7 1/2-year sentence.

According to the Sept. 11 criminal complaint, the woman reported to campus security at 10:50 a.m. Sept. 10 that she had been physically and sexually assaulted multiple times over three days in her room by Labatte, her boyfriend of two months. She said he was still in her room.

The university’s security officer told St. Paul police that the woman was “distressed and visibly upset” when she reported the alleged abuse.

She told police Labatte arrived on campus Thursday night to visit her over the weekend and became “enraged” and “furious” after discovering text messages, photos and information on social media. She said he took her phone and kept it away from her.

She said Labatte went from giving her hickeys, which was consensual, to forcibly removing her clothes and sexually assaulting her after she told him she didn’t want to have sex. At one point, she told police, Labatte put both hands around her neck and it made her feel dizzy and like she was going to die.

That Saturday, she told police, Labatte forced her into the bathtub, where he covered her mouth with a washcloth and “waterboarded” her by pouring buckets of water over her. He also allegedly threatened her with a knife.

She told police that Labatte let her leave the dorm room Sunday morning after she convinced him she would go get food from the cafeteria. Before she left, she said, Labatte gave her back her cellphone and asked her to take a photo showing that she had arrived at the cafeteria so he could follow her.

While speaking with police, Labatte called the woman several times. She said Labatte was paranoid about her being away from her room.

Police found the victim had black, blue and red marks on her neck, according to the complaint, and Labatte was arrested on suspicion of domestic violence by strangulation and sexual assault. After being informed of her rights, Labatte said, “I plead the 5th Amendment.”

The woman went to the hospital to be examined for sexual assault and said she suffered from Labatte’s punches to her stomach, throat and face. A nurse examiner noted bruises on her cheek, neck and ear, which the woman said were from Labatte’s bites, according to the complaint.

The woman’s call log shows Labatte tried to call her five times while she was speaking with police. He also sent her a text message at 10:59 a.m. asking why the officers were outside.