Kaitlyn Braun to be sentenced today in Hamilton after faking pregnancies, defrauding doulas
CBC
A Hamilton judge is expected to sentence Kaitlyn Braun today for faking pregnancies and fraudulently receiving doula care on two occasions while on house arrest for similar crimes.
Braun, 26, pleaded guilty in January to two counts of obtaining by false pretence services under $5,000 and two harassment-related charges.
"This is a long-standing pattern for Ms. Braun," assistant Crown attorney Simon McNaughton told the court in January.
He and Braun's defence have requested Justice Joe Fiorucci sentence Braun to three years in prison. The court will also hear from victims about how Braun's crimes have impacted them.
Braun previously pleaded guilty to 21 separate charges, including fraud, indecent acts, false pretences and mischief, after pretending to have experienced pregnancies and stillbirths between June 2022 and February 2023.
She was sentenced to two years of house arrest, as requested by both the defence and Crown, and despite a judge's concern she would reoffend.
Braun was serving that house arrest in April 2024 when she contacted an organization in Hamilton that supports parents in crisis, McNaughton said in January.
Braun gave a fake name and claimed to be 19 weeks pregnant, that her baby wasn't going to make it full term and she needed support. A social worker volunteer got in touch and they spoke on the phone for 18 hours over two days before the volunteer discovered Braun wasn't pregnant.
A week later, Braun contacted a doula over text. She again gave a false name and claimed she was 21 weeks pregnant, experiencing pregnancy loss and her partner had left her after finding out, McNaughton said. Over the next three days, Braun and the doula exchanged over 600 texts until the doula called the hospital and discovered Braun wasn't there.
Information collected about Braun "makes it clear the offender lacks insight into her behaviour and motivation and from a young age appears to be fascinated by pregnancy and child birth," McNaughton said. "There appears to be a sexual dimension to these crimes."
At a court appearance in January, when Braun pleaded guilty, her lawyer, Alison Macdonald, said Braun "wanted to wrap up" court proceedings that day.
But Fiorucci described the proposed sentence as "fairly significant," and said he needed more time to review the materials.
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