VANCOUVER — A fake nurse who "used a weapon each time she inserted a needle" in patients has been sentenced to another four years in prison on top of the remaining three years she is already serving in Ontario, a British Columbia Supreme Court judge has ruled.
Associate Chief Justice Heather Holmes said Friday that the prospects of rehabilitation for Brigitte Cleroux "seem slim," after she detailed the woman's extensive criminal history in several Canadian provinces.
Cleroux pleaded guilty to charges of fraud, forgery, assault and assault with a weapon in July arising from three indictments for crimes committed in Vancouver, Victoria and Surrey, B.C.
The court heard how Cleroux was on parole for crimes of "dishonesty" in Ontario and moved to B.C. in early 2019, where she applied for a position at a Surrey dental clinic under a fake name.
While working at the clinic, Holmes said, Cleroux stole cheques, bilking the clinic of around $8,000, before she left the job in March 2020.
Three months later, she began working at B.C. Women's Hospital as a full-time nurse by using the name of a real nurse who was on leave at the time.
Holmes said the woman she impersonated, whose name is under a publication ban, has since changed her name.
The judge said the woman Cleroux impersonated "has had to abandon the professional identity she built in her name because Ms. Cleroux stole and contaminated that name and identity to the point of destruction."
The judge broke down how Cleroux used "numerous" fake documents to get the jobs in health-care facilities, providing false references and email addresses that were under her control.
Cleroux treated hundreds of patients, administering injections of potentially dangerous drugs, including fentanyl, and Holmes said the "common ground" between patients is that they didn't consent to be injected by an unqualified person.
Eventually Cleroux was the subject of complaints, leading to a suspension and later her termination by the hospital in June 2021.
In October 2020, Cleroux had a short-term contract as a post-anesthetic care nurse with a private clinic in Victoria but "resigned abruptly" that November after complaints surfaced about her poor skills and lack of professionalism.
Holmes said Cleroux began applying for other nursing jobs in early 2021 before leaving her hospital job in Vancouver, landing a position at an Ottawa fertility clinic in July 2021, but her "deception came to light" after confrontations with a colleague.
Cleroux was arrested in August 2023 by Ottawa police, and pleaded guilty to seven charges including fraud, assault with a weapon and personation.
She was sentenced to seven years in prison in Ontario, and has about three years left on that sentence.
Holmes outlined Cleroux’s sprawling web of deceit spanning from B.C. to Ontario, Quebec and Alberta.
When she worked at seniors homes in 2017 in Quebec she stole cheques worth more than $23,000 from a 102-year-old resident, Holmes said.
Holmes said there were 25 victim impact statements entered into court, many of whom expressed "shattered trust" in B.C.'s public health-care system.
Some of the victims Cleroux treated underwent some of the “most invasive of procedures” on the “most private area of their bodies," Holmes said.
Holmes said victims have experienced anxiety, fear, panic attacks and at least one has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.
Others experienced financial consequences from leaving jobs, and paying for private care and counselling, she said.
A psychologist who assessed Cleroux couldn’t give a “precise reason” for the woman’s serial offending, finding she has a “profound lack of insight," but said she had "numerous traits" of anti-social, narcissistic, and histrionic personality disorders," the judge said.
Holmes said evidence against Cleroux in B.C. did not involve "actual, physical harm" to the patients, but the Ontario case had a victim who temporarily lost movement in their hands after Cleroux bungled taking their blood.
Holmes said Cleroux, 52, has never been professionally qualified as a nurse, and her criminal record includes numerous convictions for fraud and forgery over the years in multiple provinces and in the United States, racking up more than 65 convictions for a wide range of fraud-related crimes, her first adult conviction recorded in 1988.
For most of the charges against Cleroux, Holmes sentenced her to serve time "concurrently" with her Ontario prison term, but made exceptions for consecutive terms for the assault and assault with a weapon charges.
Holmes said Cleroux's "deep seated dishonesty" caused hundreds of patients emotional distress, and sentenced her to another four years in prison to be served after she completes her sentence in Ontario, an "aggregate length" of seven years.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 20, 2024.
Darryl Greer, The Canadian Press