Fake nurse sentenced 7 years for impersonation, using needles on patients

Brigitte Clerouxwho for decades has pretended to be a nurse and school teacherin at least three provinces and two U.S. stateshas been sentenced to seven yearsfor impersonating a nurse at two healthfacilitiesin Ottawa last year, and for using needles on patientswhen she was unqualified.

The 50-year-old pleaded guilty in January to seven offences including impersonation, assault with a weapon and assault, and was sentenced Friday by Ontario Court Justice Robert Wadden.

Her crimes stemmed from short stintsworking at Ottawa'sOriginEllefertility clinic and Argyle Associatesdentalsurgery clinicin 2021, where 20 victims she eitherhandled physically or used needles on were identified, Wadden toldcourt.She impersonated a real nurse, B.C.'s Melanie Smith, to gain that employment.

In a victim impact statement, one former patient said going throughin-vitro fertilizationwas stressful enough, and that she needed therapy after finding out she'd beentreated by a fraud.

Another fertility clinic patient wrotethey felt a "strong sense of betrayal," and a mother of a child attended to by Clerouxdescribed being stressed aboutthe revelation that she wasn't qualified, Wadden told court.

Crown attorney Moiz Karimjeehad argued for a sentence of 10 years,while defence lawyer RonaldGuertin sought four to five years.

With credit for the time she has already served in jail Clerouxhas been in custodysince her arrest by Ottawa police inAugust 2021 the remainderof her sentence works out to five years and eight months in a federal penitentiary, Wadden ruled.

She must also submit to a DNA orderand is barred from possessing weaponsfor 10 years.

"The impersonation of a health-care professional strikes at the core of the trust our society puts in our health-care system," Waddentold court.

Cleroux's actions "caused everyone to doubt the integrity" of thatsystem "and the trust placed in the nursing profession, which is one of the most hard-working and highly regarded professions in this country."

67 adult convictions, more as a youth

Cleroux has a lengthy criminal record in Canada and the U.S., including67 adult convictions and still others from when she was a youth, Wadden toldcourt.

She was born and raisedin Ottawa, had a troubled relationship with her parents, engaged in theft as a young personand moved to the U.S., where she racked up convictions, Wadden said. In Coloradoshe studied nursing but didn't finish.

Though Clerouxreceived training in the beauty industry and worked in that field for a time, was trained as a restaurant manager and legally worked in B.C.as an unregulated health-care provider, she chose instead to fraudulently obtain work as a nurse because it paid more, Wadden said.

A court-ordered psychiatric report found that Cleroux suffers from a host of personality disordersandengages in fraud to soothe her feelings. And while Clerouxadmitted to what she did, she continued to frame herself as a victim, Wadden told court.

The judge also said the psychiatrist who conducted the assessment was "pessimistic" about Cleroux's prognosis.

Cleroux, with her hair up, a blue surgicalmask, a black shirt and white blazer, appeared to cry while speaking with her lawyer after Wadden concludedsentencing.

In September 2021, whenOttawa police charged Cleroux, theytook the unusual step of releasingher photo because she uses aliases and may have worked elsewhere.

Similar charges filed in Vancouver

Nursing regulatory bodies in Alberta,B.C., and Ontariohave issued alerts aboutClerouxin the past.The College of Nurses of Ontario lists Cleroux and her aliases on a web page alerting potential employers topeople posing as nurses.

According to the college, Cleroux'saliasesin the Ottawa region have includedBrigitte Marier, Brigitte Fournier, Melanie Cleroux, Melanie Gauthier, Melanie Thompson and Melanie Smith.

Nearly three months after Ottawa police filedcharges against Cleroux, Vancouver police announced she was facing charges there for allegedly posing as a nurse at B.C. Women's Hospital for a year.

Her next appearance on charges filed in Vancouveris set for May, according tocourthouse records.