Fake nurse Brigitte Cleroux sentenced for B.C. crimes
A woman who impersonated nurses in several provinces has been sentenced to seven years in prison for offences in British Columbia – where she illegally treated nearly 1,000 patients across multiple communities.
The sentence handed down to Brigitte Cleroux in B.C. Supreme Court Friday will be served concurrently with another she's currently serving for similar offences in Ontario, adding four years to her term.
Cleroux pleaded guilty over the summer to crimes including assault, fraud over $5,000 and using forged documents.
During the sentencing hearing, Associate Chief Justice Heather Holmes said the prospect of rehabilitation for Cleroux "seems slim" given her extensive criminal history, which dates back to 1989.
In 2011, she was found guilty of a variety of offences related to impersonating a nurse in Alberta, but still managed to find work posing as a health-care professional in Vancouver, Victoria and Surrey, then later in Ottawa.
The court heard some of Cleroux's offences took place at B.C. Women's Hospital, where she used the name and credentials of a real nurse – whose name is protected by a publication ban – to obtain work in the gynecological surgical services department in 2020.
There she administered powerful drugs to patients intravenously, including fentanyl and hydromorphone.
Cleroux managed to find work at View Royal Surgical Centre, near Victoria, later that year before resigning in the face of numerous complaints about her abilities and professionalism.
Prosecutors described her as a "serial fraud artist," and requested an eight-year sentence for her B.C. offences.
“The only way, the Crown submits, to protect the public from Ms. Cleroux is to segregate her from society,” said lawyer Alexander Burton, at a sentencing hearing earlier this month.
Her sentence in Ontario – also for seven years behind bars, for offences that included assault and assault with a weapon – was handed down in 2022.
With files from CTV News Vancouver's Ben Nesbit and The Canadian Press
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