Repeat N.L. sex offender Matthew Twyne sentenced again after stern reprimand from judge

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.

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