A 19-year-old has been arrested in the United States on charges of raping, waterboarding and physically and sexually torturing his girlfriend for several days in her dorm, as per a report in CBS News. The Minnesota man, Keanu Labatte, was arrested September 10 at St Catherine University. He was then charged with five felony counts which include "three for criminal sexual conduct, one for domestic assault by strangulation and one for threats of violence".
According to the complaint, Mr Labatte visited his girlfriend of two months on her all-girls campus on September 7. As per the lawsuit, he took hold of her phone and withheld it from her for days after discovering texts, images and social media posts that "infuriated" him. From Thursday to Saturday, the 19-year-old raped her in dorm room, strangled her, threatened her with a knife and forced her to lie in a bathtub. He covered her face with a washcloth and poured water on her. He threatened to kill her family as well and reminded her of what he had previously done to an ex-girlfriend, which was to hold a knife to her throat, according to the report.
The complaint further mentions that the woman was "feeling terrified to the point that she would just lay next to Labatte and not move for fear of what he would do to her" as per CBS News.
NBC News reported that she managed to escape from the room on Sunday after she "persuaded" the 19-year-old to let her go to the campus cafeteria. He allowed her to take her phone along with her in order to keep a track of her activities. The complaint mentions that after escaping, the "distraught and visibly upset" woman went to the security office to report the physical and sexual abuse. The university then notified the police for further action.
It was revealed that Mr Labatte tried calling the victim five times after she left the room. He also texted her "asking why there were cops outside". The police arrested him from the dorm room on the charges of first-degree criminal sexual conduct, domestic assault by strangulation and threats of violence.
St Catherine University told CBS News it would not comment on the matter that would "affect a student's confidentiality, or potentially re-traumatise them."
