Man Accused of Raping College Student in Her Dorm Was on Probation for Violating a Restraining Order

Keanu Labatte, the Minnesota man accused of raping and waterboarding his girlfriend inside her dorm, was on probation for violating a restraining order, court documents say. 

Labatte, 19, is accused of torturing his girlfriend of two months inside her dorm room at St. Catherine University, an all-girls school in St. Paul. His girlfriend escaped after three days and went straight to authorities, according to a criminal complaint reviewed by PEOPLE.

As part of a stay of adjudication issued in April, Labatte was serving a one-year probation in Yellow Medicine County, Minn., for violating a harassment restraining order in November 2022, a sentencing order reviewed by PEOPLE indicates. 

Minnesota Public Radio reported that the restraining order had involved another woman and was issued after prosecutors alleged he sent unwanted text messages to a student at a high school he had dated.

Labatte’s stay of adjudication would have been dismissed had he successfully completed probation.

Labatte was arrested Sept. 9 and charged with three counts of criminal sexual conduct, one count of threats of violence and one count of domestic assault by strangulation, according to the complaint.

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The complaint alleges that Labatte arrived at the university to see his girlfriend on Thursday, Sept. 7, and discovered texts, pictures and social media posts that “infuriated him.” Labatte is then accused of taking her phone, raping her and choking her until "she was unable to breathe, felt lightheaded and saw stars," the complaint states.

On Sept. 9, the complaint alleges that Labatte made his girlfriend lie down in a bathtub, put a washcloth over her face and waterboarded her.

The woman was able to escape the dorm the next day when she convinced Labatte to let her leave the dorm to go to the cafeteria. He returned her phone and instructed her to keep in touch with him on Snapchat so he could track her movement, according to the complaint.

When police arrested Labatte, the complaint alleges that he told them, “I plead the fifth.”

Labatte’s bail was set at $100,000, according to the complaint. He appeared before a judge on Sept. 12, per KSTP, and his next court date is scheduled for Oct. 9.

If you are experiencing domestic violence, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233, or go to thehotline.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.