Kaitlyn Braun permanently gives up social worker registration after defrauding more than a dozen doulas A woman who previously pleaded guilty to criminal charges for faking pregnancies and deceiving doulas has promised to never work as a social worker again. Kaitlyn Braun, from Brantford, Ont., appeared in front of a disciplinary committee for the Ontario College of Social Workers and Social Service Workers on Aug. 10. Braun was accused of professional misconduct under the Social Work and Social Service Work Act. According to disciplinary committee documents, Braun obtained doula services under false pretenses, telling doulas she had been sexually assaulted or was experiencing a miscarriage or stillbirth, sending a photo of a stillborn baby to a doula and not paying for services provided by doulas between June 2022 and March 2023. Some victims tried to help Braun over the course of multiple days. One doula said she racked up a bill of close to $6,000 in uncompensated time and expenses while working for Braun. A doula is a person who provides guidance or support while a person is experiencing labour. The documents also said “while [Braun was] naked or partially naked, [she] coerced a doula to perform a massage on [her], including [her] back or buttocks,” and “while [she] was shirtless, [she] used a breast pump in front of a doula.” At Braun’s criminal trial, one doula said her relationship with Braun had a profound impact on her life and her career. “I am afraid of trusting social workers. I am afraid of gaining new clients. I am afraid of being triggered at a birth,” the unnamed victim said. Braun’s social worker history The disciplinary documents state Braun earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Social Work at Wilfrid Laurier University in 2020 and later registered with the Ontario College of Social Workers and Social Service Workers. Between Oct. 21, 2021 and July 18, 2022, she worked as a residential counsellor at Haldimand & Norfolk Women’s Services (HNWS). “On Aug. 17, 2022, the college received a report of termination regarding the registrant from HNWS,” the hearing document said. “The report outlined various concerns from the reporter regarding the registrant’s conduct while employed at HNWS, including concerns that she had made an inappropriate/threatening comment to a colleague and fabricated and/or lied about several things, including telling the organization that her mother was in a coma and later died.” In October 2022, the college received reports that Braun had been faking pregnancies or labour to obtain doula services. Months later, on March 15, 2023, the college heard from a Brantford Police Service constable who said Braun had been criminally charged. Criminal trial In addition to the charges involving doulas, Braun was also accused of submitting a false sexual assault report. In February 2023, Braun went to Brantford General Hospital to have a sexual assault evidence kit completed. She provided a sworn videotaped statement to police detailing the alleged sexual assault, but later that same day, she sent an email to a detective and confessed that she had made it up. On Dec. 7, 2023 Braun pleaded guilty to one count of public mischief related to the false sexual assault report. She also pleaded guilty to four counts of committing an indecent act, 11 counts of obtaining services by false pretense and five counts of fraud. Those charges involved 13 doulas in Ontario, Alberta and the United States. On Feb. 14, 2024 she was sentenced to two years less a day of house arrest, followed by three years of probation. She was also required to undergo therapy. Two months later, Braun reached out to a charitable organization that supports parents in crisis. She said her name was Kate Baker and she was 19 weeks pregnant with a baby that would not make it to full term. She spent about 19 hours on the phone with a volunteer. Ten days later, she began texting a Hamilton-based doula and called herself Jessica Baker. The two exchanged about 600 messages over three days. She was arrested by Hamilton Police on April 30, 2024 and pleaded guilty to four new charges. The judge accepted a joint submission by the Crown and defence recommending a five-year sentence, despite expressing concern in a previous hearing about Braun’s ability to seek rehabilitation behind bars. The defence, however, argued that it was the sentence Braun wanted. “The client gave very clear instructions, she can get DBT [Dialectical Behavior Therapy] in the penitentiary,” he told the court. “She wants to just deal with things, wants to start doing her real time and wants to get assistance.” Braun’s criminal history was discussed as part of the disciplinary committee decision. “She exploited her victim’s trust and empathy” Braun admitted to all of the misconduct allegations set out by the disciplinary committee. “She further admits that this conduct was relevant to her suitability to practice [as a social worker] and that, having regard to all the circumstances, would reasonably be regarded by registrants as disgraceful, dishonourable and unprofessional,” the document said. Although her crimes did not involve social work clients, the panel believed “her conduct was relevant to her suitability to practise social work and to the profession as a whole.” “[Braun’s] crimes strike at the core values of the social work profession: honesty, integrity and respect for the intrinsic worth of all people,” the decision stated. “Over a period of months, [Braun] fabricated pregnancies and, in some cases, false claims of sexual assault, in order to solicit the practical and emotional support of doulas - individuals who, like social workers, provide care and support to those they believe to be in need. She exploited her victims’ trust and empathy, in some cases requiring them to attend on her, unpaid, over multiple days while she feigned labour, and in some cases subjecting them to further indignities, including coercing massages while she was partially or fully unclothed, using a breast pump in their presence, and sending them a photo of a stillborn baby.” The hearing documents said several of the doulas that Braun deceived later left the profession entirely because of what they experienced. Braun resigned from the college and permanently gave up her certificate of registration. She also agreed to never re-apply for registration, never seek reinstatement of her qualifications, and to ever again practice social work or social service in any jurisdiction. She must also pay the college $5,000 in $200 instalments, and the full cost must be paid within five years. Baby Parker’s mother pleads guilty to disposing a dead child’s body More than 21 years after a newborn baby was found dead along a Brantford, Ont., trail, his mother pleaded guilty in court. The 39-year-old woman was arrested in February and charged with indignity to a body and concealing the body of a child. She pleaded guilty to only one of those charges on Wednesday, admitting she disposed of her child’s body. The woman cried quietly as she stood next to her lawyer in court. Despite entering a guilty plea, she insisted she had no memory of the crime. History of the case The full-term baby boy was wrapped in a yellow towel and left near Dufferin Avenue and Parkside Drive on July 28, 2005. A neighbour found a “bloodied object” in his backyard the next day and thought it was raw meat. He called the Brantford Police Service when he heard a dead baby had been found in the area. The object turned out to be a placenta. An autopsy found trauma to the child’s skull, jaw and left ribs, but the medical examiner could not determine when those injuries occurred. The body was also too badly decomposed to determine the exact cause of death or if the baby was stillborn. An investigator named him Baby Parker. Finding Baby Parker’s mother New details about the search for Baby Parker’s mother were revealed in court. According to the agreed statement of facts, the man who found the placenta lived next door to the mother. On July 30, 2005, the mother was interviewed at the police station. She told investigators she was having a sexual relationship with a man and was aware that a newborn had been found dead in the area. “As a result of this information, a consent for a DNA sample was requested from (the mother),” the document said. “(The mother) orally agreed to provide a DNA sample on consent; however, a sample on consent was never obtained from (the mother).” A big break in the case came in 2023. Police said they worked with the Toronto Police Service and its Investigative Genetic Genealogy Unit to identify Baby Parker’s father. They narrowed it down to two men who were both 20-years-old in 2005. One of them had been in a relationship with the mother. Police said the woman was identified as a person of interest on Feb. 26, 2024. In June 2025, officers collected garbage from the mother’s home. They swabbed a water bottle and sent it off for testing at the Center for Forensic Sciences in Toronto. The mother was arrested on Feb. 26, 2026. Police said they obtained a DNA warrant to confirm their initial results. “Specifically, it is estimated to be five million times more likely (she) is the biological mother of the newborn male child than some other random woman being the biological mother,” the document said. At the time of Baby Parker’s birth, she would have been approximately 18-years-old. According to the agreed statement of facts, no one knew she was pregnant and she did not appear pregnant. “(The mother) says that she did not know that she was pregnant until the birth/stillbirth of the newborn male child,” it said. “(The mother) says that she has no memory of concealing the body of the newborn male child.” The Crown noted that they had no evidence to disprove those assertions. The mother’s name has never been shared publicly due to a publication ban. Sentencing considerations Justice Elizabeth Wilson questioned whether a guilty plea was the right approach, as the mother said she did not remember what happened the day she gave birth. “The essential part is that it’s an informed plea,” the judge stressed. She then addressed the mother. “If I make a finding of guilt, which I anticipate I will, you will have a criminal record, do you understand?” Justice Wilson asked. The mother answered, “yes,” while wiping tears from her cheek. “This is a very difficult case and everyone wants to be sure we are being fair to [the accused], and we are taking the right approach at resolving the matter,” Justice Wilson said. The sentencing process is expected to begin in November. ‘All I needed was a safe space’: Mount Forest, Ont., mom turns daughter’s loss into SickKids legacy A Mount Forest, Ont., family is turning the loss of their baby girl into a legacy of support for other families at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto. Scottie-Lynn Stewart was born on Sept. 19 of last year. She was diagnosed in utero with truncus arteriosus type 3, a rare congenital heart defect. “After delivery, within an hour, Scottie was transported over to SickKids where they hooked her up to everything just to get a baseline and a monitor,” mother Chelsey Briere recalled. She underwent her first open-heart surgery at three days old and a second procedure about a week later. Briere said the medical teams who cared for Scottie-Lynn became like family during the six weeks they spent at the hospital. “I just can’t quantify the amount of love and support that we have felt through this, which is just so humbling that in dark days, people just come together and rally,” Briere said. ‘I had collapsed in a hallway very publicly’ But Scottie’s condition deteriorated, and the family was faced with heartbreaking end-of-life decisions. “She flatlines and she goes limp,” Briere recalled. ”All of a sudden, there were bodies rushing in, and we’re being pulled back. There’s a nurse on top of her doing CPR, and within three minutes, she’s whisked away.” Scottie-Lynn was placed on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, a temporary life-support treatment, after more than 30 minutes of CPR. Her family later faced concerns about catastrophic brain damage and, eventually, learned there was nothing more that could be done medically. “We were able to spend a couple days with her in a private room, bathing her, holding her, sleeping with her, having those moments,” Briere said. She said that’s when she realized how much families need a private place to grieve. “I had collapsed in a hallway very publicly,” she recalled. “All I needed was to have a safe space to collapse, to cry, to feel, to process.” ‘A life does not need to be long-lived to be meaningful’ After Scottie-Lynn died on Oct. 31, the family eventually reached out to a SickKids social worker about creating a more private space for other parents. They started to raise money to revitalize a private room on SickKids’ Cardiac Critical Care Unit. The room already exists, but the fundraising will help make it a more comfortable space for families who need somewhere to meet with medical staff, have difficult conversations or simply step away from the busy hospital floor. Kelly Dickinson, manager of community partnerships at SickKids Foundation, said the project does not involve construction or a major renovation. “There’s no construction being done,” Dickinson said. “But it’s going to have a really nice refresh ... some new furniture, uplifting details and decor, so it’s going to be a really lovely space.” Briere said the family initially set a fundraising goal of $30,000. She said they had raised about $27,500 and expected to add more than $1,600 from a recent bottle drive and bake sale. The fundraising page lists $24,500 as the target for the room’s revitalization. SickKids Foundation said donations above the amount needed for the room will support the hospital’s highest-priority needs, including research, medical equipment and patient and family programs. For Briere, the fundraiser is also a way to keep Scottie-Lynn’s memory alive. She said her family and friends continue to mark birthdays and special occasions, and they encourage others to say Scottie-Lynn’s name. “One of the big parts as a loss parent is that people will forget,” Briere said. “For people that honour her birthday, say her name ... it feels really special to know that she wasn’t just ours.” Her family said her short life continues to shape the way they support one another and the way they want to help other families facing loss. “A life does not need to be long-lived to be meaningful,” the family wrote on its fundraising page. Briere said she hopes the revitalized space will give parents a place to breathe, cry, make difficult calls and be together during some of the most painful moments of their lives. “I just think how much she accomplished in her six weeks. I’m like, girl, you did it.” Loaded dump truck without front brakes stopped in Stratford The Stratford Police Service and Ministry of Transportation has taken a potentially dangerous vehicle off the road. In a social media post on Wednesday, the police service said a Ministry of Transportation officer stopped a dump truck in the Lorne Avenue East area of Stratford. During an inspection, the officer learned the loaded truck did not have front brakes. The truck was immediately ordered out of service and taken off the road. While helping with the inspections, a Stratford Police Service officer also saw a pickup truck being driven in the same area with an unsecured load of steel in the bed. They said the back of the truck was sitting “significantly lower” than the front due to the weight. “A loaded dump truck without the required brakes is a major hazard on our roadways. Steel flying out of the bed of a pickup truck is a major hazard on our roadways. Conducting proper pre-trip inspections on your commercial vehicles can save a life,” the social media post read. Fake emails from St. Jacobs Farmers’ Market request deposits from vendors Scammers are once again targeting small businesses. In a social media post, the St. Jacobs Farmers’ Market warned vendors about a fake email account requesting deposits for upcoming events. “If you receive a message that seems unusual, contains different payment instructions, or doesn’t feel quite right, contact us directly to verify before sending funds,” it said. Vendors were reminded that applications are only accepted through the St. Jacobs Farmers’ Market’s website, and any communication will be sent from email addresses that end with @stjacobsmarket.com. “We will never ask you to send payment to an email address that doesn’t end with schlegelurban.com,” the post said. Similar scams Similar schemes were reported this summer across Waterloo Region. Organizers for the Wellesley Apple Butter & Cheese Festival said someone sent emails to vendors requesting an insurance deposit of $248. One small business tried to send the money but, luckily, the transaction was blocked by their bank. In June, the City of Kitchener said someone sent out emails about “exclusive” vendor opportunities at the Christkindl Market. The City of Cambridge issued a similar warning in August after vendors were emailed fake applications for the Winterfest Holiday Market. Scammers also pretended to be the organizers of Kitchener-Waterloo Oktoberfest. Some messages even claimed to be from executive director Tracy Van Kalsbeek. Kitchener-Waterloo Oktoberfest said they were contacted by vendors who fell for the fake requests and ended up losing hundreds of dollars.
