Man gets 30 days for exposing himself to teen at arena

“During the trial the court heard that Hobin approached the boy at the arena and told him he found him cute. The boy moved away from the area, but Hobin approached him again and asked where the washroom was.”

CORNER BROOK — A west coast man has been sentenced to 30 days in jail for exposing himself to a young boy at a hockey arena despite his claim that such a sentence would constitute a violation of his charter rights.

Matthew Hobin, 46, was sentenced in provincial court in Corner Brook on Tuesday following a charter hearing on Monday where he argued the mandatory 30-day minimum sentence constitutes cruel and unusual punishment. Instead, he sought a conditional discharge with probation.

Judge Wayne Gorman disagreed with that argument and said it would not be a grossly disproportionate sentence, considering the nature of the offence and Hobin’s personal circumstances.

In his written decision, Gorman said hockey runs through the history and culture of this country like blood through our veins.

“In many ways it defines us, but we have at times turned a blind eye to its dreadful attachment to those who would use its sublime beauty for the terrible purpose of sexually abusing our country’s children.”

Hobin exposed his penis to a 14-year-old boy for a sexual purpose while the boy was attending a hockey game in Corner Brook on Nov. 29, 2019.

He was charged with exposing his genitals for a sexual purpose to a person under 16 and entered a not guilty plea. He was convicted at trial late last year.

During the trial the court heard that Hobin approached the boy at the arena and told him he found him cute. The boy moved away from the area, but Hobin approached him again and asked where the washroom was.

He subsequently asked another boy the same question even though he knew where the washroom was.

The first boy showed Hobin where the washroom was. It was close to where they were standing and when Hobin entered the washroom the boy moved away from the area.

When Hobin came out of the washroom his zipper was wide open and his penis was outside his zipper. The boy had no difficulty seeing this and Hobin then asked him what he was doing later that evening.

The boy told a friend’s mother what happened, and she told his mother. Both women spoke with Hobin, whose zipper was still down, but his penis was no longer exposed.

The boy’s mother said Hobin was “calm, cool and collected,” and not “dazed or confused.”

Gorman concluded that Hobin knew his penis had been outside his pants.

In reaching his decision on sentence, Gorman said 30 days was appropriate because of the circumstances of the offence, the public location in which it occurred and to satisfy the sentencing principles of deterrence and denunciation.

He said it is lower than what would normally be imposed for such an offence, but it was appropriate to reflect the mitigating circumstances found in Hobin’s personal experiences. The court heard he suffers from mental-health issues.

Gorman said while medical reports were filed, the evidence concerning Hobin’s mental-health issues was sparse.

But Gorman did accept Hobin’s comments at sentencing that he suffered immensely as a result of childhood abuse as being honest and accurate.

In addition to the 30-day sentence, Gorman ordered that Hobin be placed on probation for one year following the completion of his sentence.