‘I plead the Fifth’: Boyfriend of two months allegedly raped girlfriend in dorm for days, waterboarded her in tub, moved mattress to floor so bed wouldn’t squeak

Keanu Labatte

Keanu Labatte, inset in a Ramsey County Jail mug shot; St. Catherine University (KTSP screengrab)

A 20-year-old in Minnesota who was initially accused of holding his girlfriend of two months captive for three days, raping her and waterboarding her in a university dorm room, has pleaded guilty to one sex crime ahead of trial, taking much more serious charges off the table.

Keanu Avery Labatte of Granite Falls pleaded guilty on Friday in Ramsey County to second-degree criminal sexual conduct, which his defense has described as an admission to non-consensual sexual contact involving the use of force by choking the victim in September 2023 inside of a dorm room at St. Catherine’s University.

During a phone call with Law&Crime, the defendant’s attorney Thomas Beito confirmed the defense will be asking the judge to sentence Labatte to probation, though prosecutors will seek the maximum 90 months (7.5 years) in prison allowed under an agreement.

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