Harold LeBel (; born June 22, 1962) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

former politician and convicted

sex offender A sex offender (sexual offender, sex abuser, or sexual abuser) is a person who has committed a sex crime. What constitutes a sex crime differs by culture and legal jurisdiction. The majority of convicted sex offenders have convictions for crime ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

, who was elected to the

National Assembly of Quebec The National Assembly of Quebec (officially in french: link=no, Assemblée nationale du Québec) is the legislative body of the province of Quebec in Canada. Legislators are called MNAs (Members of the National Assembly; french: link=no, déput ...

in the 2014 election. He represented the electoral district of

Rimouski Rimouski ( ) is a city in Quebec, Canada. Rimouski is located in the Bas-Saint-Laurent region, at the mouth of the Rimouski River. It has a population of 48,935 (as of 2021). Rimouski is the site of Université du Québec à Rimouski (UQAR), the C ...

as a member of the

Parti Québécois The Parti Québécois (; ; PQ) is a sovereignist and social democratic provincial political party in Quebec, Canada. The PQ advocates national sovereignty for Quebec involving independence of the province of Quebec from Canada and establishin ...

. He was a candidate for the party three times previously, running in

Rivière-du-Loup Rivière-du-Loup (; 2021 population 20,118) is a small city on the south shore of the Saint Lawrence River in Quebec. The city is the seat for the Rivière-du-Loup Regional County Municipality and the judicial district of Kamouraska. Its one of ...

in the 1989 election and the 1994 election, and in

Kamouraska-Témiscouata Kamouraska-Témiscouata is a former provincial electoral district in Quebec, Canada that elected members to the National Assembly of Quebec. As of its final election, it included the municipalities of Kamouraska, La Pocatière, Saint-Athanase, ...

in the 2003 election. On December 15, 2020, he was arrested following allegations of

sexual assault Sexual assault is an act in which one intentionally sexually touches another person without that person's consent, or coerces or physically forces a person to engage in a sexual act against their will. It is a form of sexual violence, which ...

against Catherine Fournier, a former member of the National Assembly and current Mayor of

Longueuil Longueuil () is a city in the province of Quebec, Canada. It is the seat of the Montérégie administrative region and the central city of the urban agglomeration of Longueuil. It sits on the south shore of the Saint Lawrence River directly acr ...

, dating back to 2017. He was released later that day, and subsequently expelled from the PQ caucus, pending further investigations. LeBel was found guilty on November 23, 2022 of sexually assaulting Fournier at his residence in 2017. On January 26, 2023, at the courthouse of

, he was sentenced to eight months of imprisonment. On March 21, 2023, after expressing remorse for his crime during therapies in prison, LeBel was granted parole.

Electoral record

References

Parti Québécois MNAs Living people People from Rimouski French Quebecers Independent MNAs in Quebec 21st-century Canadian politicians 1962 births {{Quebec-MNA-stub