Former PQ MNA Harold LeBel sentenced to eight months for sexual assault

Former Parti Québécois MNA from Rimouski, Harold LeBel, was sentenced to eight months in jail on Thursday, after being found guilty of sexual assault by a jury in November.

A woman, whose identity is under a publication ban, had accused LeBel of sexually assaulting her in his condo in 2017.

Both the crown and defence recommended the eight-month sentence to the judge.

Lebel will also be listed on the sex offenders registry for 20 years, and will have to submit a DNA sample. And he cannot have contact with the victim.

After his sentence is completed, he will be on probation for two years.

Earlier, prosecutor Manon Gaudreault read a statement from the victim expressing sympathy for LeBel, who she said “will have to pay for his actions, criminal acts, serious and reprehensible, of course, but which do not in themselves define a person.”

“I have never felt so vulnerable in my entire life as that night in Rimouski,” said the woman, whose name is protected by a publication ban. “How are we supposed to react when a man over twice your weight assaults you? I was so scared.”

LeBel, who addressed the court Thursday, said the matter has been “terrible” for his career and for his values. Explaining that he had always worked closely with groups that advocated against assaults, he said, “it pains me to be seen as an assailant.”

She alleged he then joined her in a Murphy bed where he repeatedly touched her sexually for several hours.

When confronted in an email about the events by the complainant, LeBel wrote that he had been drinking and had no memory of the incident.

Gaudreault had urged the court to send a clear message that those who commit sex crimes will be punished.

The prosecutor said that among the aggravating factors that justified the sentence were LeBel’s breach of trust and the fact he continued to assault the victim, and intensified his actions, despite her repeated refusals. Mitigating factors, she said, included the fact that he did not have a criminal record before his assault and that he had apologized to the victim and expressed remorse.

The jury was made up of nine women and three men.

In December, Lebel, via his attorney, had made it known that he would not appeal the verdict.

With files from The Canadian Press