'My stomach dropped': Winnipeg man speaks out after being criminally harassed following single online date
A Winnipeg man said a single date gone wrong led to years of criminal harassment, false arrests, stress and depression.
Brent Marsch, 38, said he met Jennifer Plantz, 34, on the dating app Tinder in 2016 but when he went to meet her at Polo Park mall, he realized something wasn’t right.
“My stomach dropped,” he said in an exclusive interview with CTV News. He said she gave him the same profile name but her online photo did not match her appearance in person.
He said he quickly ended the date but she sent online messages two years later and in 2019, Plantz showed up at his apartment.
“She was standing there, in a trench coat, huffing aerosol, and I was immediately like ‘Oh, it’s you,’” he said, adding the incident was just the beginning of what he described as a “nightmare”.
Jennifer Plantz was recently handed a conditional sentence of 15 months under house arrest after pleading guilty to criminal harassment and assault last week in relation to 22 false police complaints she made against Marsch over a three-year period. She is also facing three years of unsupervised probation and is ordered to not contact the victim.
Marsch was arrested three times, but when Plantz filed a protection order against him in 2022, police finally looked at the interactions between the pair.
Provincial Judge Raymond Wyant said at the hearing that Marsch was an innocent person “put through hell.”
“That man’s nightmare is never going to end,” he said at the time.
CTV News Winnipeg reached out to Plantz’s defence attorney for comment and Plantz by social media, but did not hear back by deadline.
'All it took was someone to go through the files'
Marsch is speaking out now to question why Winnipeg police did not investigate Plantz until 2022.
“All it took was for someone to go through the files to see what was happening between us and a lot of this could have been prevented,” Marsch said, adding he hopes his ordeal is over.
CTV News Winnipeg reached out to the Winnipeg Police Service to ask why Marsch was arrested so many times even though he was innocent.
However, police said it would be inappropriate to comment on evidence provided in court.
Marsch is warning others about the dangers of online dating but still lives in fear that he will run into his aggressor.
“It's such a small city, she is just going to be everywhere I go now.”
With files from CTV's Kimberly Rio Wertman
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Canadian doctor concerned new weight-loss drug Wegovy may be used inappropriately
As Wegovy becomes available to Canadians starting Monday, a medical expert is cautioning patients wanting to use the drug to lose weight that no medication is a ''magic bullet,' and the new medication is meant particularly for people who meet certain criteria related to obesity and weight.
Hulk Hogan, hurricanes and a blockbuster recording: A week in review of the Trump hush money trial
Crucial witnesses took the stand in the second week of testimony in Donald Trump's hush money trial, including a California lawyer who negotiated deals at the center of the case and a longtime adviser to the former president.
Two killed after collision with truck on Hwy. 417 near Limoges, Ont.
Ontario Provincial Police say two people were killed after a car and a transport truck collided in the westbound lanes of Highway 417 near Limoges, Ont. on Tuesday afternoon.
A Chinese driver is praised for helping reduce casualties in a highway collapse that killed 48
A Chinese truck driver was praised in local media Saturday for parking his vehicle across a highway and preventing more cars from tumbling down a slope after a section of the road in the country's mountainous south collapsed and killed at least 48 people.
Grandparents killed in wrong-way crash on Hwy. 401 identified
A 60-year-old man and a 55-year-old woman killed in a wrong-way crash on Highway 401 earlier this week have been identified by the Consulate General of India in Toronto.
Britney Spears 'home and safe' after paramedics responded to an incident at the Chateau Marmont, source tells CNN
A source close to singer Britney Spears tells CNN that the pop star is 'home and safe' after she had a 'major fight' with her boyfriend on Wednesday night at the Chateau Marmont in West Hollywood.
Quebec man who threatened Trudeau, Legault online sentenced to 20 months in jail
A Quebec man who pleaded guilty to threatening Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Premier François Legault has been sentenced to 20 months in jail.
Russia puts Ukrainian President Zelenskyy on its wanted list
Russia has put Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on its wanted list, Russian state media reported Saturday, citing the interior ministry’s database.
Premier Legault reiterates that McGill pro-Palestinian camp must be dismantled
Quebec Premier François Legault reiterated that the pro-Palestinian encampment at McGill University must be dismantled while police remain 'on the lookout for new developments.'