ST. JOHN'S, N.L. — When The Telegram reported earlier this week that Matthew Twyne was back in custody for the second time in two months, the online response from readers was swift — and generally angry.
“Why do they keep letting him out of jail?” many asked. Others questioned the state of the justice system and wondered why and how Twyne has not been declared a dangerous offender.
A registered sex offender for life, Twyne has been convicted seven times for committing indecent acts in public, the most recent just over a year ago, when he was sentenced to 18 months in jail minus credit for time served for exposing himself to two women walking along the Long Pond trail in St. John’s. At that point, he had been out of jail for just three days, having completed a federal term of incarceration for exposing himself to children at a local dance school.
Twyne had gone to the dance studio in 2017, looked into the change room where children between 14 and 16 years old were getting ready, and pressed his bare penis against the glass of the studio window. Staff told him to leave twice; he returned twice. When he was arrested, police found he was carrying a hunting knife.
A list of 29 conditions
As Twyne finished his federal sentence, the Crown successfully argued for a special order forcing him to abide by a list of 29 conditions upon his release, since he had been deemed by police and the parole board to be at a high risk to reoffend. Those conditions included that he stay away from a handful of places in the St. John’s area, including Memorial University, certain schools and anywhere selling alcohol; that he abide by a curfew; that he report to the RNC once a week and notify them of any plans to change address and any vehicle to which he had access; that he not associate with anyone with a criminal record; that he have no cellphone with the capacity to take photos or video; and that he not have any contact with any of the complainants in his cases nor their family members.
Those conditions were ordered Oct. 8, 2019 for a period of one year. This past October, one week after the conditions expired, Twyne was arrested after an off-duty sheriff passed by Quidi Vidi Lake and saw him sitting on the side of the bandstand (Twyne is banned from attending public parks and swimming areas where children under 16 would be expected, as well as all playgrounds, community centres, schoolgrounds and daycares). He served jail time for two counts of breaching court orders and was released days before his arrest again on Dec. 23, when he was charged with two new counts of breaching probation orders. Police arrested Twyne after reportedly receiving information from members of the public allegedly placing him near downtown facilities frequented by children.
The Crown can’t request and a judge can’t impose whatever sentence they personally feel is appropriate for a crime, since they are bound by the limits of sentencing in the Criminal Code of Canada. The code sets out maximum and, in some cases, minimum sentences that can be imposed for any offence.
The court has acknowledged in the past Twyne’s pattern of behaviour.
“There’s a pattern here, and there are issues here beyond what this court can deal with; some psychological issues that need to be addressed, but can’t be addressed by this court,” Provincial Court Judge Colin Flynn said when he sentenced Twyne in December of 2019.
The Crown has recognized the potential danger Twyne poses to the public. At his sentencing hearing in December of 2019, prosecutor Jennifer Lundrigan told the court, “Mr. Twyne is an extremely poor candidate for rehabilitation and rehabilitation at this point may well be impossible. The best way for us to keep the public safe is for him to be incarcerated.”
However, the Crown can’t request and a judge can’t impose whatever sentence they personally feel is appropriate for a crime, since they are bound by the limits of sentencing in the Criminal Code of Canada. The code sets out maximum and, in some cases, minimum sentences that can be imposed for any offence. Government can decide to amend the criminal code and change the maximums and minimums, as it has with impaired driving and sexual assault, if the public calls for it.
Sentences are also limited by previous similar cases. By law, the courts must apply a sentence similar to what others have received for the same offence. If the judge chooses to ignore precedent and imposes a sentence that’s significantly higher or lower, he or she must give a very good reason for doing so.
“Otherwise, the case would almost certainly be appealed, and the appeal court would simply replace the trial judge’s sentence with one which corresponds with precedent,” Lloyd Strickland, Newfoundland and Labrador’s assistant director of public prosecutions, told The Telegram last year, speaking in general and not about any specific case.
Explaining the 'dangerous offender' designation
Once an offender completes their jail sentence, neither federal nor provincial courts, corrections authorities nor police can keep them in custody. One exception is if a person is formally designated a dangerous offender, in which case they are given an indeterminate jail sentence and held in custody until they are deemed to no longer pose a danger to the public. The designation usually results in a life sentence.
Dangerous offender status in Canada is reserved for sexual predators and otherwise violent criminals, when the Crown is able to prove a high risk of the offender committing other serious offences in the future. Serial rapist Sofyan Boalag, for instance, was deemed a dangerous offender in 2017 and is being held in jail indefinitely.
In order to declare a person a dangerous offender for sexual violence, the court must be satisfied — among other things — that the offender has shown a pattern of persistent aggressive behaviour and indifference to the consequences, and that the offender’s crime is a serious personal injury offence as defined by the criminal code: an indictable offence involving either the use of violence; behaviour that would endanger a person or cause them severe psychological damage and earn the offender a jail sentence of 10 years or more; sexual assault; sexual assault with a weapon; sexual assault causing bodily harm; or aggravated sexual assault.
“That designation may only be placed on the extremely violent and repeat offenders who show little to no sign of being amenable to any rehabilitation,” Strickland explained.
Probation breaches — an offence that has a maximum jail sentence of four years in the worst cases but typically attracts a sentence of 30 days incarceration — may not meet the criteria for dangerous offender status on their own.
A special 810 order, like the one by which Twyne had been bound, is sought by the Crown in extreme situations in order to limit a person’s movement and activity. It, too, is only available in rare circumstances, when there is clear evidence to suggest a person is a danger to the public.
Twyne has made two short appearances in provincial court on his most recent charges and is scheduled to make his next one Jan. 7.
Twitter: @tara_bradbury
Tara Bradbury reports on justice and the courts in St. John’s.
