Granite Falls man who held girlfriend captive and assaulted her in dorm room sentenced to 90 months in prison

A Granite Falls man accused of holding his girlfriend captive, assaulting her and boarding her up in a University of St. Catherine in 2023 was sentenced to 90 months in prison on Monday.

Keanu Avery Labatte, 20, was sentenced to 90 months (7.5 years) in prison after pleading guilty to a charge of second-degree criminal sexual conduct. Labatte must also stay away from the victim, who has a domestic abuse no-contact order against him, and register as a sex offender for life.

Court documents show Labatte will receive credit for 16 days of time served.

Labatte pleaded guilty in July to one count of second-degree criminal sexual conduct in exchange for the dismissal of four other charges.

According to a criminal complaint, Labatte had come to the university in September 2023 to visit his girlfriend of two months. The night he arrived, he saw texts, images and information on social media that “enraged him”, sparking a torturous weekend of physical and sexual abuse.

As previously reportedthe victim told investigators that Labatte took her phone first. He then forced himself on the victim after she told Labatte she did not want to have sex, the complaint states.

Labatte became increasingly violent, strangling the victim until she was unconscious and threatening to kill her and her family. He also implied he would hold a knife to her throat – an act he told the victim he had done to a past girlfriend.

The complaint describes the victim “feeling terrified to the point where she would lay next to Labatte and not move for fear of what he would do to her.”

On Saturday, Labatte allegedly mounted the victim by laying her in a bathtub, covering her face with a cloth and pouring water over her. The victim also recalled Labatte threatening her with a knife, “looking for the right vein (on her arm) to cut deep enough so no one could save her.”

The woman finally escaped on the morning of September 10, 2023, when she convinced Labatte to let her get food from the dining hall. Labatte gave her the phone back and told her to check with him on Snapchat to make sure she wasn’t trying to escape, the complaint states. Instead, he went to campus security to report the attacks.

When police arrived to search the room, they found a folding knife in a backpack and a wet washcloth in the bathroom. The mattress was moved to the floor, which the victim said Labatte did, so the bed would not creak while he sexually assaulted her.

Labatte was still in the room at the time and was arrested. He chose to enter a fifth plea after officers read him his Miranda rights.

During a sexual assault examination, a nurse noted that the victim had bruises around her ear, face and neck, along with severe body pain.

Court records indicate Labatte was on probation at the time of the assault for violating a restraining order involving another woman in Yellow Medicine County.

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If you or someone you know is experiencing abuse, there are several resources available to help. For immediate help, contact:

More than 12 million people in the US alone are affected by domestic violence each year, according to the National Family Violence Hotline.

The organizations listed above can help connect victims to resources such as safe shelter, advocacy, legal aid, and support groups.

The National Domestic Violence Helpline also offers advice on identifying abuse and supporting victims of abuse. CLICK HERE to see those.

Other organizations that can help include:

Minnesota also has a list of many other crime victim resources that can be found HERE.