Harold LeBel firmly refuted the plaintiff’s claims at the start of his testimony at his sexual assault trial on Monday morning. If he and the alleged victim did indeed kiss, he claims that the allegations of sexual touching are false. “I have never done that”.
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The defense of M.e Maxime Roy went straight to the point Monday morning at the opening of the testimony of his client Harold LeBel.
“Have you, yes or no, assaulted [la plaignante]asked the lawyer as the very first question.
“Nope. I’ve never done that,” retorted the former MP for Rimouski with conviction.
As for the allegations of having unfastened the complainant’s bra and having insisted on opening the door of the bathroom where she would have taken refuge, the politician also insisted. As with the allegations of grabbing her buttocks or inserting a finger into her anus.
“It’s wrong. No, I’ve never done that. […] When I went to the toilet, I was worried, it was to ask if you’re okay. I didn’t force anything, I’ve never done that in my life,” explained Mr. LeBel.
Consentful kiss
His only admission of the complainant’s testimony relates to the kiss they exchanged in the kitchen of his condo, which he described as consensual.
“Yes, it happened,” admitted Harold LeBel, adding that he and the alleged victim were alone at the time and were discussing their respective romantic situations. “We were very close, six inches apart, elbow to elbow,” explained the accused, adding that it had lasted “20, 30 seconds”.
“We were both surprised. I was surprised because I didn’t expect that. I didn’t force anything. We pulled back and were like, ‘No, no, no.
The plaintiff testified last week that LeBel kissed her and was pushy following she refused his advances. She said the accused undid her bra and tried to enter the bathroom where she had taken refuge.
After taking a shower, she would have gone to bed and LeBel would have joined her. She would have accepted that he lies down at her side to “buy peace”, but the one who was then deputy for Rimouski would have grabbed her buttocks and would have gone so far as to insert a finger into her anus.
divergent version
Harold LeBel had a divergent version of this late night on Monday morning. He explained that he went to bed alongside the alleged victim as his friend, the third person present, was already asleep in bed.
He claims to have slept “fully dressed”, on his back, only to sleep and rest.
It was when he woke up that he said he had “his nose in the woman’s hair”, with a hand on her shoulder.
“I backed off right away. I was not comfortable being there like that,” testified Mr. LeBel.
He then explained that the text and email exchanges, as well as in person, with the woman in the following days and months were normal and “going very well”. It was in February 2020 when the woman confronted him with her allegations on the night in the fall of 2017 that he says he “fell out of his chair”.
She accused the deputy of sexual touching.
“I answered as a whip (his function within the PQ). I responded like someone who wanted to understand what she was writing. Like someone who said, we are going to talk regarding it”, explained the accused, adding that he “should have left with that and gone to see a lawyer”.
In his testimony last week, the alleged victim told the jury that Harold LeBel told him he had “no memory of any of that.” “I remember waking up next to you wondering what I was doing there. This is an evening of alcohol that I wish I had never known,” wrote Mr. LeBel.
The latter will be cross-examined by the Crown prosecutor, Me Manon Gaudreault in the followingnoon of Monday.
More details to come.