Court eases internet restrictions for Sask. man who matched with a 15-year-old girl on Tinder

A Saskatchewan man who had a sexual encounter with a 15-year-old girl he met on Tinder successfully appealed to shorten release conditions barring him from online dating.

A Saskatchewan man who had a sexual encounter with a 15-year-old girl he met on Tinder successfully appealed to shorten release conditions barring him from online dating.

In January 2023, Trevor Howitt was convicted of sexual interference and sentenced to a 39-month prison term following a trial at the Saskatoon Court of King’s Bench. The judge also imposed conditions for three years after his release, including restrictions against working with or attending certain locations where there might be anyone under the age of 16, and using the internet, except for finding a job or in the course of employment.

According to Justice Jeffery Kalmakoff’s written appeal court decision released this month, Howitt argued the restrictions should be set aside because they went “beyond what was reasonable to minimize the risk.”

The appeal court agreed the restrictions were overly broad, but opted instead to shorten the length of conditions by a year and modify them to address his risk factors.

Howitt’s conviction stems from a series of encounters in August 2017, after he matched with the victim on Tinder. The girl wrote in her profile that she was 18-years-old.

Howitt, who was 44-years-old at the time of the offence, acknowledged at trial the girl told him she was still in school, had no licence or vehicle, and was staying with her grandparents because her parents were away — all red flags that should have alerted him that he needed to confirm her age, the trial judge said.

Because she was actually 15-years-old, she could not legally consent to sexual activity.