Repeat N.L. sex offender Matthew Twyne sentenced again after stern reprimand from judge
CBC
A repeat sex offender was rebuked Thursday in a St. John's provincial courtroom for continuously breaching his release orders, with the presiding judge handing down a sentence of one year and two months for his most recent violations.
Matthew Twyne, who was arrested in August after being caught loitering near two Mount Pearl playgrounds by an off-duty police officer, pleaded guilty to three counts related to breaching his probation conditions.
He was previously arrested in October 2019 for exposing himself to two women on a Long Pond walking trail, on Memorial University's campus — three days after being released for a previous indecent exposure conviction, when he exposed his genitals to a person under 16 in 2017.
Judge Lori Marshall spoke sternly to Twyne at Thursday's sentencing, rattling off a string of sex offences since 2013.
"That's just going back a few years," Marshall noted, adding that his crimes stretch back "well into the early 2000s."
Twyne has also breached his probation or release orders a total of 24 times in the last eight years, and has more than 100 convictions. He has been diagnosed with several mental illnesses.
Marshall noted that Twyne had participated in voluntary programming while imprisoned, and said his social worker submitted that Twyne had encountered significant difficulty finding housing and settling into a community, given fears from the public that he would reoffend.
She also noted that that programming did not appear to be working.
"I understand you're trying to work with your support people," she said. "However, there still remains the issue that you seem to be incapable of complying with your [release conditions].… There is absolutely no reason why a grown man needs to go to a playground."
Crown prosecutor Robin Singleton suggested a total sentence of 395 days for Twyne's most recent breaches in August, which Marshall accepted without hesitation, telling Twyne his continued behaviour constituted "thumbing your nose at court orders."
"I don't know what counselling is going to help you with that," she said.
Marshall noted she had last sentenced Twyne to seven months, which "obviously did nothing to deter [him]."
With time served since August, Twyne will remain behind bars until July, and is banned from being in any public place where children may be present on his release, including near playgrounds, public parks and schools.
Read more from CBC Newfoundland and Labrador
Montreal officials will hold a ceremony to mark the 36th anniversary of the Polytechnique massacre today.
The City of Regina's proposal to build a roadway through the McKell Wascana Conservation Park should be discarded, local conservationists say.
A holiday event that began in 2020 during the pandemic with three floats on pickup trucks has now become one of Kelowna’s big winter events, drawing thousands to the city’s downtown core.
WARNING: This story details allegations of child abuse.
It’s been hard to keep track of how many legal challenges and active court proceedings the United Conservative government has tried to quash or pre-emptively block in the last six weeks, but let’s try to tally:
Margaret Walker, the emcee of a Waterloo vigil commemorating the victims of the Montreal massacre, doesn't feel enough is being done to reflect on the killings and address gender-based violence.
The P.E.I. Humane Society says it is doing far more fundraising than it used to, and rising expenses — including the cost of animal medications — are a big reason why.
Ottawa is staring down a court-ordered deadline to submit a new plan to reform the on-reserve child welfare system, as a group of First Nations leaders and children’s advocates prepare a competing proposal.
An underpass revitalization project that was meant to pay tribute to the people of Parkdale has instead deteriorated into “a garbage dump,” according to nearby residents.
A young man has been charged with criminal negligence causing bodily harm after a fire at a frat party near Western University that injured five sorority sisters, including two seriously, late Tuesday night.
The massive deal to combine one of Hollywood's oldest studios with a streaming giant hasn't even been approved yet, but it's already riling multiple related industries and politicians concerned about monopolies and media concentration.
Mi'kmaq chiefs and a former Nova Scotia justice minister are criticizing the provincial government for directing police to crack down on illegal cannabis, saying the order undermines relations with Indigenous Peoples.
For years, there has been “glaring inequity” in the way the province has allocated the millions of dollars in its county roads budget, according to Department of Transportation Minister Chuck Chiasson.