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0 A fake nurse who treated nearly 1,000 patients at medical facilities in Vancouver and Victoria wept Friday as she pleaded guilty to assaulting victims with the weapon of her would-be trade — an intravenous needle.
Clutching a box of tissues as she appeared in front of a B.C. Supreme Court judge via video, Brigitte Cleroux uttered the word “guilty” 11 times in response to a series of criminal charges ranging from impersonation and assault to using forged documents.
The pleas relate to investigations in three separate jurisdictions where the 52-year-old managed to obtain work by combining the name of a real nurse — Melanie Smith — with a resumé and references spun out of lies.
‘The impact on Ms. Smith was significant’
According to documents filed in the case, Cleroux cared for at least 899 patients at B.C. Women’s Hospital in Vancouver and 56 patients at Victoria’s View Royal Surgical Medical Centre.
She also forever changed the life of the real nurse, Melanie Smith.
“The impact on Ms. Smith was significant,” reads an agreed statement of facts.
“She was so concerned about actual and potential damage to her name and professional standing that she changed her surname to avoid association with Ms. Cleroux and her activities.”
The guilty pleas are the latest chapter in a legal odyssey spanning decades and jurisdictions. Cleroux was previously jailed for five years for fraud and impersonation in Alberta and is currently serving a seven-year sentence for posing as a nurse at two Ontario health-care facilities.
The charges in B.C. relate to money she took in benefits from her various jobs and injections that turned into assaults in the eyes of the law because patients had not consented to be jabbed by a woman with no medical qualifications whatsoever.
According to the agreed statement of facts, Cleroux’s parole from the Alberta charges expired on May 15, 2020.
But by that time, she had already come and gone from a Surrey dental clinic where Cleroux was hired as a dental assistant.
On her way out the door, she stole five of the dentist’s cheques, forging his signature on amounts totalling $8,000.
‘Honest, loyal and dedicated’
Cleroux was hired as a full-time general duty nurse at B.C. Women’s Hospital in June 2020 after submitting a resumé in the name of Melanie Smith, providing the real nurse’s actual professional registration number.
In addition to claiming credentials as a certified flight nurse and a registered nurse anesthetist, Cleroux also manipulated the application process so her new employer wound up unwittingly seeking references from email addresses the fraudster controlled.
Posing as a former boss, Cleroux gave herself “5 out of 5 on a range of assessment categories,” the court documents state.
One bogus reference described her “key strengths” as “honest, loyal and dedicated to her job/practice.” Another lauded her for “knowledge” saying she was “very intelligent, takes charge.”
Cleroux’s position at B.C. Women’s Hospital involved administering patients drugs like fentanyl and hydromorphone and monitoring their vital signs while under anesthetic.
Even as she worked that job, Cleroux moonlighted from October to November 2020 at Victoria’s View Royal Surgical Centre, a private medical facility specializing in day surgeries.
But multiple reports about her “lack of professionalism, her poor nursing skills, and her bedside manner” led to Cleroux’s rapid resignation from that position.
Unluckily for patients at B.C. Women’s Hospital, she still had her fake day job at B.C. Women’s to fall back on.
Within months, Cleroux found herself the subject of warnings about her professional conduct, but it wasn’t until June 2021 that she was placed on leave after complaints from patients and staff.
The agreed statement of facts says the hospital twigged to Cleroux’s deception, terminating her employment on the same day the fake nurse announced her resignation.
‘You knew what you were doing?’
Cleroux will be sentenced later this fall. Her next court date is Oct. 9.
Wearing prison sweats with her hair tied in a bun, Cleroux sobbed as Associate Chief Justice Heather Holmes probed her in detail about the crimes to which she was admitting.
“You knew what you were doing?” Holmes asked.
“Yes, ma’am,” Cleroux responded.
“And you used several documents that you knew were forged?” Holmes said.
“Yes, ma’am,” Cleroux repeated.
“And that you had physical contact with patients that the law considers to be assault because the law considers they did not consent because they did not know you were not a nurse?” the judge continued. “You’re acknowledging that?”
“Yes,” Cleroux answered.
The judge also warned Cleroux that a guilty plea might carry other implications the fraudster may not have foreseen.
“For you, there may be career consequences,” Holmes said.
