Man gets probation for online threat

A Halifax man has been placed on probation for 18 months after posting a threat on Facebook last spring that, in the words of a Crown attorney, “caused great concern” to those who saw it.

Ryan Kenneth Crouse, 41, pleaded guilty in December to a charge of uttering threats to cause bodily harm or death to another man. He was sentenced Monday in Halifax provincial court.

An acquaintance of Crouse reported the May 12 post to police. A few weeks earlier, a Nova Scotia gunman had gone on a 13-hour rampage, taking 22 lives before he was shot and killed by police.

Halifax Regional Police arrested Crouse on May 13 and seized knives and an imitation handgun from his apartment. When Crouse appeared in court the next day, a prosecutor told the court there had been a threat to commit a mass shooting.

But this week, lawyers clarified that Crouse had threatened to shoot a man in the head.

Crown attorney Kim Mconie said Crouse’s presentence report shows a history of anxiety, depression, anger issues and abuse of alcohol and cocaine.

“The Crown would submit the combination of anger issues and mental health issues and weapons can be a very dangerous combination indeed,” Mconie said.

She said it was positive to read in the report that Crouse has abstained from alcohol for 18 months and from cocaine for a year. But she noted that on Monday he also pleaded guilty to breaching bail last October by using a street drug called Molly and failing to comply with conditions of house arrest.

“The struggle to maintain sobriety sometimes is one step forward and two steps back,” Mconie said.

The Crown said the facts behind the breaches, which were committed at the Inn on the Lake in Fall River, were “horribly tragic.” A 25-year-old woman who checked into the hotel with Crouse died after ingesting Molly.

Defence lawyer Brad Sarson said his client wanted everyone to know he had no intention of following through on the online threat.

Crouse had a number of issues that came together and resulted in him saying “some rather unfortunate things” on social media, Sarson said.

“He’s not the first person to do that and, unfortunately, he won’t be the last,” the lawyer said.

“He comes before the court today to take responsibility for his actions.”

Crouse had four previous criminal convictions, including one for assault in 2012, the court was told. He began a new job this January after being unemployed for about two years.

“I’d like to apologize to the court for being here today and for some of the past stuff I’ve been involved with,” Crouse said.

He said the incident at the hotel in October “was enough to set me on the right path for the rest of my life,” and he hopes to never see the judge again.

Judge Ann Marie Simmons accepted a joint recommendation from lawyers for a suspended sentence with 18 months’ probation for each of the three offences, to be served concurrently, and a five-year firearms prohibition.

The judge said the recommendation addresses the sentencing principles of denunciation and deterrence and allows for Crouse’s continued rehabilitation.

“That should lead to your success,” Simmons told Crouse. “And your success is the community’s success.”

Three other charges from last May – two counts of possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose and one of using an imitation firearm in the commission of an offence – were dismissed by the judge.

Crouse also faced three charges of aggravated assault and single counts of forcible confinement, assault causing bodily harm, assault with a weapon and overcoming resistance by choking - all from 2018 - but those matters were dropped in December.