Priest denies sexually assaulting teen

By Morgan Davy

KINGSTON – A retired Roman Catholic priest accused of sexually assaulting a young man testified Wednesday that the accusations are false.

Rene Labelle is on trial at the Frontenac County courthouse, charged with molesting the boy, then in his teens, about 10 years ago.

The charges relate to a single incident alleged to have taken place on Wolfe Island in 2004 while the boy was visiting Labelle, where the priest had recently been appointed.

The alleged victim claims that Labelle came into his room in the middle of the night and began touching him.

Labelle told Superior Court Judge Timothy Ray that he did invite the boy to come to the island for a visit, but that the boy “did not stay with me that night, or any

other night.”

After spending the afternoon at the beach, the teen went home on the ferry around dinnertime, he testified.

The trial continues Thursday in Kingston.