Granite Falls man admits choking, sexually assaulting girlfriend in St. Catherine dorm room – Twin Cities

A 20-year-old man from Granite Falls, Minnesota, admitted in court Friday that he strangled and sexually assaulted his girlfriend in their 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 sexual abuse in connection with the assault at St. Paul University.

In exchange for the confession, prosecutors agreed to drop four other charges: two counts of first-degree sexual abuse and one count each of domestic violence by strangulation and threat of violence.

A maximum sentence of 7.5 years in prison is also part of the deal, which was reached just days before the jury trial was set to begin. Labatte is still out of jail on $80,000 bail ahead of sentencing on Nov. 4.

Labatte’s lawyer, Thomas Beito, said Friday that his client admitted to “choking” the woman during the attack. “He did not admit to the other offensive details that are involved here, such as waterboarding, taking her hostage or kidnapping her,” Beito said. “We deny that any of that happened.”

Beito said he would argue to Judge Kellie Charles that Labatte should receive probation “due to his age and the fact that he has no significant criminal history.”

Dennis Gerhardstein, spokesman for the Ramsey County District Attorney’s Office, said prosecutors would ask that Labatte receive the full sentence of 7.5 years.

“I invoke the 5th Amendment”

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

The university’s safety officer told St. Paul police that the woman was “distraught and visibly disturbed” when she reported the alleged abuse.

She told police Labatte showed up on campus Thursday night to visit her for the weekend and was “angry” and “upset” after discovering text messages, pictures and social media information. She said he grabbed her phone and held it away from her.

She said Labatte first gave her consensual hickeys and then forcibly undressed and sexually assaulted her after she told him she did not want to have sex. At one point, she told police, Labatte put both hands around her neck, causing her to feel dizzy and believe she was going to die.

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

She told police that Labatte let her leave the dorm room on Sunday morning after she convinced him she was going to get food from the cafeteria. Before she left, Labatte gave her back her cellphone and demanded that she take a photo showing she had made it to the cafeteria so he could track her.