'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
Former homicide detective explains how police will investigate shooting outside Drake's Bridle Path mansion
Footage from dozens of security cameras in the area of Drake’s Bridle Path mansion could be the key to identifying the suspect responsible for shooting and seriously injuring a security guard outside the rapper’s sprawling home early Tuesday morning, a former Toronto homicide detective says.
RCMP not investigating possible foreign interference cases related to Chiu, Dong: Duheme
Canada's federal police force is not investigating any possible instances of foreign interference in the cases of former Conservative MP Kenny Chiu and Liberal-turned-Independent MP Han Dong, RCMP Commissioner Mike Duheme says.
Stormy Daniels describes meeting Trump during occasionally graphic testimony in hush money trial
Stormy Daniels took the witness stand Tuesday at Donald Trump's hush money trial, describing for jurors a sexual encounter the porn actor says she had with him in 2006 that resulted in her being paid off to keep silent during the presidential race 10 years later.
Bye-bye bag fee: Calgary repeals single-use bylaw
A Calgary bylaw requiring businesses to charge a minimum bag fee and only provide single-use items when requested has officially been tossed.
Air France flight from Paris to Seattle lands in Iqaluit after heat smell in cabin
A plane travelling from Paris to Seattle was forced to make an emergency landing in Iqaluit after there was a heat smell in the cabin during the flight.
CFL suspends Argos QB Chad Kelly at least nine games following investigation
The CFL suspended Toronto Argonauts quarterback Chad Kelly for at least nine regular-season games Tuesday following its investigation into a lawsuit filed by a former strength-and-conditioning coach against both the player and club.
Boy Scouts of America changing name for first time in 114 years, aiming for inclusivity
The Boy Scouts of America is changing its name for the first time in its 114-year history and will become Scouting America. It's a significant shift as the organization emerges from bankruptcy following a flood of sexual abuse claims and seeks to focus on inclusion.
Federal government grants B.C.'s request to recriminalize hard drugs in public spaces
The federal government is granting British Columbia's request to recriminalize hard drugs in public spaces, nearly two weeks after the province asked to end its pilot project early over concerns of public drug use.
opinion Tom Mulcair: Trudeau's handling of Poilievre's 'wacko' House turfing a clear sign of Liberal desperation
When Speaker Greg Fergus tossed out Pierre Poilievre from the House last week, "those of us who have experience as parliamentarians simply couldn't believe our eyes," writes former NDP leader Tom Mulcair in his column for CTVNews.ca