Hamilton child protection agency worker used system 'as a weapon' against Kitchener mom

KITCHENER - An investigator with a child protection agency used the system as a weapon" to punish a Kitchener woman she suspected was having an affair with her husband.

The employee, 43, who worked for the Catholic Children's Aid Society in Hamilton, called Family & Children's Services of Waterloo Region three times to make false allegations about the woman, Kitchener court was told this week. She did not identify herself to the agency.

She pleaded guilty to criminal harassment and lost her job as a result of this," defence lawyer Dean Paquette said. Not only has she lost her job, she is essentially unemployable in her chosen field."

In September 2021, she told Family & Children's Services that the woman had sex with a man while the woman's five-year-old daughter was in the same room. The allegation was not investigated.

In January of this year, she called the agency twice to allege the woman was leaving her child playing outdoors in the cold for long periods while she entertained men inside her house," said Crown prosecutor Alayna Dueck.

A Family & Children's Services worker showed up the woman's door. A brief investigation proved the allegation was false and the case was closed.

It's very fortunate in the circumstances that F&CS was able to close the file quickly," Dueck said.

This could have gone a very different way, which would have caused even more significant and extreme emotional anguish" to the victim, she said. The fear she's outlined of losing her child is something that can't be overstated as a significant emotional impact."

Dueck said the perpetrator used a system - designed to protect children - as a weapon to punish (the victim) for what she perceived as her wrongdoing."

The Grimsby woman also used the victim's email address to set up accounts on pornography websites and a site that emails partners of people who have been sexually active to advise that they've been exposed to a sexually transmitted disease," Dueck said.

The victim received multiple emails from those sites.

The perpetrator, who no longer lives with her husband, was handed a six-month conditional sentence - three months of house arrest followed by three months with a curfew, plus 18 months of probation. She can't possess weapons or contact the victim. She must give a DNA sample for the national database and take counselling.

The sentence was recommended by the Crown and defence.

The victim denied having an affair with the woman's husband.

I understand that you felt wronged by (the victim) at the time, but under no circumstances would that justify your conduct," Justice Pamela Borghesan said.

It's clear from the victim impact statement that (the victim) has been significantly affected in many aspects of her life. And that will likely continue for some time. There's a real maliciousness to this offence."

The woman was an investigator, her lawyer said.

She was extremely good at what she did," Paquette said. Extremely capable, very intelligent woman."

A first-time offender, she got credit for pleading guilty, a sign of remorse.

I want to publicly apologize," she told the judge. I do understand what I did was wrong. My anger was misdirected."

Gordon Paul is a Waterloo Region-based reporter focusing on crime for The Record. Reach him via email: gpaul@therecord.com