Harold LeBel (; born June 22, 1962) is a former Canadian politician and convicted

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

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

, who was elected to the

National Assembly of Quebec The National Assembly of Quebec (, ) is the Legislature, legislative body of the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec in Canada. Legislators are called MNAs (Members of the National Assembly; ). The lieutenant governor of Que ...

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, whose motto is ''Legi patrum fidelis'' (Faithful to ...

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 establishi ...

. 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 (Quebec), 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 districts of Quebec ...

in the 1989 election and the 1994 election, and in Kamouraska-Témiscouata in the 2003 election. On December 15, 2020, he was arrested following allegations of

sexual assault Sexual assault is an act of sexual abuse in which one intentionally Physical intimacy, sexually touches another person without that person's consent, or Coercion, coerces or physically forces a person to engage in a sexual act against their w ...

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, Montérégie administrative region and the central city of the urban agglomeration of Longueuil. It sits on the South Shore (Montreal), south shore o ...

, 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

1962 births Living people 21st-century members of the National Assembly of Quebec Independent MNAs in Quebec Parti Québécois MNAs People from Rimouski Politicians from Bas-Saint-Laurent {{Quebec-MNA-stub