Hi there, Steve Patterson here, host of The Debaters, the show where Canada's...
comedians compete for your laughter. It's part stand-up, part quiz show, part comedy competition.
“This week's episode asks, "Do millennials make the best parents?" We're covering from A to Gen Z.”
So don't miss this week's episode of The Debaters, wherever you get your podcasts. A BBC World Service and CBC podcast production. A warning. This episode references sexual assault. (music) Wilfred Laurier University named after Canada's seventh prime minister has a Latin motto, "Veritas
Omnia Vincent." Truth conquers all. It's faculty of social work has been educating and mentoring prospective social workers since 1966. And every year, new graduates enter the workforce ready to help vulnerable people make their lives better. In 2020, one of those graduates,
“was Caitlyn Braun. That's right, Caitlyn Braun was a licensed social worker at the time of her”
arrest. If you scroll back through Caitlyn's mother's Facebook page, there are pictures of her daughter in her cabin gown. And Caitlyn has also posted to her own social media, standing proudly with her fellow graduates in front of a massive sign on campus that reads, "inspiring lives." I don't know where it's stemmed from, but I feel like she liked to be needed. With her degree in hand, Caitlyn worked with youth in crisis and women seeking shelter.
Asia, Caitlyn's childhood friend remembers Caitlyn telling her harrowing stories, stories that she now wonders if they were even true. She was working for this halfway host, and this one guy was really dangerous and locked her in his apartment and held her at knife point. And I remember I was like, "How are you doing that job?" Like that is crazy to me how you can
get up and go back to work. According to the criminal charges, the first known instance of Caitlyn
lying to Adulah was in June 2022. So while she was working with vulnerable people, she was also manipulating unsuspecting duelists through devastating narratives. This is the part that's frustrated me. This person was working with vulnerable communities for any indigenous nation or children. This again is Amy Silva, the dula who made that first TikTok about Caitlyn. She believes that social work gave Caitlyn cover, the appearance of
“respectability and trustworthiness. I think there's a reason she went into social work because she could”
do it with vulnerable people who like, nobody's going to believe them that she's doing these things to them. Exactly how far Caitlyn had gone, how far she might be willing to go. It was a question many of us who knew her story were asking. And then one day, I got a call that made me realize she had gone even further than I ever imagined. For CBC and the BBC World Service, I'm Sarah Trelevin. And this is the Kahn, Caitlyn's baby.
[Music] At the so-to-five, it gets worse. I got the call from my son's dad and he said, "Hey, like, the situation just came up." My son had been accused of sexual assault, sexual harassment, and he couldn't even finish like he was so upset. And I was like, "What? What are you talking
about?" This is Nadia. She's first nations. And Nadia is not her real name. We're keeping
her anonymous for reasons you'll soon understand, and we're also leaving out some identifying details of her story. My colleague is reading her quotes. This has to be wrong because first of all, my son doesn't even know what that is. Nadia says she jumped in her car and drove as fast as she could define it what happened and speak to someone at charge. She was like, "Whoa, whoa, whoa, come in, just sit down." She said last week, Caitlyn handed a note saying, "I've been sexually assaulted."
She went as far as going to the hospital, getting a rape test kit done.
Nadia had never heard of Caitlyn until that day.
support for another first nation's youth, not her son. And Caitlyn had accused Nadia's young son
of sexually assaulting her in a hallway. Local police got involved. The police came in, grabbed all of their video footage went through. I don't know. It was like three days worth of video. And after going through the security tapes, Nadia says the police told her it was clear.
“The problem was not her son. And they said the only thing they found was my son high five”
to her in the hallway. I just felt sick to my stomach, absolutely sick to my stomach. In Canada, there's an overrepresentation of indigenous people who need access to social services. This stems from a long history of colonization going back hundreds of years. For a non-indigenous
person to be put in a position of power and then turn around and victimize a first nation's child,
this is not a new or uncommon story. And Nadia says when it happened to her son, she was outraged. I was like, "How does this even work here? How do you guys hire someone like that?" Nadia knew her son hadn't technically been heart. He didn't even know about the allegations.
“Unfortunately, there was the video evidence that cleared his name. But it was the idea that someone”
might do something like this, that they might lie about something so serious. These were the kind of false allegations that could ruin someone's life. According to Nadia, the police told her that they could press charges, but that would mean her son might have to testify. As of right now, he's still to this day, doesn't know what he was accused of. We have reached out to the relevant representatives for comment,
as well as the local police. They have yet to respond to our questions on the record. I mean, it puts you an incredibly difficult position because on one hand, obviously your top priority is to protect your son. But on the other hand, you know that this woman is capable of really, really dark things. So I guess you were putting a position where you kind of had to make
a choice. Yeah. Nadia told me the police ultimately decided not to press charges.
And that decision sat well with Nadia, until a cousin sent her a new story about Caitlyn and the dualiz. And I was like, oh my god. So then I went on TikTok and I was on Reddit one night to like, oh my god, three in the morning. I just went down this rabbit hole. And it was only then that she wondered if pressing charges might have helped someone else. I was wondering, maybe if we did go through with it, if that would be another charge to keep her in jail, possibly I don't know, or if my
son's story came out would other people come forward? And she says knowing that Caitlyn is a registered social worker, it just adds another layer. She knew to go into social work. She's like, she's got to be smart, like really smart to like pull off this whole fake life and everything, but to go into social work, to cover her, cover her ass, basically. It's scary. Scary that she was able to get away with what she is. I don't even know the word, yeah, shocking.
Uncover from CBC podcasts is your source for exceptional storytelling and groundbreaking journalism. Here how lives were altered forever by results from one DNA lab. And unravel the clues that a gravel pit may hold about one woman's disappearance. It's just, it's odd because there was no trace of a scuffle. There was nothing. Here the very best in award-winning true crime. Listen to uncover wherever you get your podcasts. Hi there Steve Patterson here host of The Debaters, the show
where Canada's funniest comedians compete for your laughter. It's part stand up, part quiz show,
“part comedy competition. This week's episode asks, do millennials make the best parents?”
We're covering from A to Gen Z, so don't miss this week's episode of The Debaters wherever you get your podcasts. So this member is a social work registrant, and in mid 2022 to about mid 2023, conduct that this individual engaged in was brought to the college's attention.
This is Denise Abro, CEO of the Ontario College of Social Workers and Social ...
the sector's regulatory body. Not yet never complained to the college about Caitlin's
actions with her son, but the duels did. They told the college all about what Caitlin had done to them. It was related to deceitful misleading and dishonest conduct. I mean, a number of duels that I have spoken to have expressed frustration. They told me that they made complaints to the college. They didn't feel like those complaints were taken seriously, and in fact, the complaints were
“not taken seriously until Caitlin was formally arrested. Can I have your response to that?”
Absolutely. I can't imagine how difficult this situation has been for the duels. I mean, my heart goes out to them. I can't imagine what it's like to feel as though you're engaging in a treatment relationship with a professional, and then to have suffered in this way.
Having said that in, you know, there are certain limitations as a regulator, and, you know,
this case was so different from anything that we would normally have seen. Why was this so different than anything you've seen previously? Well, this isn't individual who's a practicing social worker, but the concerns are related to the care that they're receiving. In any case, there's a certain level of confidentiality, but we have to keep, but when we're looking at also the actual individuals' personal care, it goes into a whole different level of
confidentiality. After her arrest, Caitlin's license to practice social work was temporarily suspended.
“What are the potential outcomes? Are you looking at a permanent revocation of her license?”
So, at that point in time, we're not the decision-maker, a disciplined panel will decide
what the outcome would be, and all of those terms, conditions, suspensions,
revocation are available outcomes to that disciplined panel. No disciplinary hearing has yet been scheduled for Caitlin. Let's say, you know, this hearing is scheduled. There's a decision made about Caitlin's license could be permanently revoked, but also could be temporarily suspended. As you mentioned, there's a number of options. What happens if upon completion of that hearing? You learned about additional allegations involving Caitlin and her,
the work she did in her capacity as a social worker. So, the test at that point in time would be, what are the allegations? How severe are they?
“Where's the public protection mandate going to fit? Is this person a current threat to the public?”
What action needs to be taken to ensure that they're not a threat to the public? Is she a threat to the public? That's a question that the justice system had to take into account as well. So, your honor, we're prepared to proceed with this matter? Good morning again, your honor. I act on behalf of Miss Caitlin Brown, who's before the court.
Okay, how's the crown proceeding? By indictment, your honor. Standing before the judge is the crown attorney and Caitlin's defense lawyer. It's December 2023. I'm content. I'm a, I mean, your honor's hands. I'm content to do it. This is an edited version of the court transcript read by some of my colleagues. I have thoroughly reviewed on many occasions your honor, the implications of entering a plea.
With my client, she has given me instructions, essentially from the start to do so. She understands, she's doing so voluntarily. There are no inducements. There are no promises made. Inducing her to plead. Also there, transferred in from the prison she has called home since being arrested. Is Caitlin herself?
All right, a stand-up man. Did you hear all that? Yes. Here in this non-descript courtroom in the small Ontario city of Bradford, the court clerk reads out the long list of charges. Caitlin Braun, you stand charged that between the 10th day of October in the year 2022 and the 22nd day of October in the year 2022 in the province of Ontario, will fully
did an indecent act while physically naked, cool hers the victim to perform a massage with intent with intent to insult or offend. This account goes on for a long time. There are 21 charges in total. And did thereby commit public mischief, contrary to section 140, 1a of the criminal code of Canada. How do you plead in these charges, guilty or not guilty? guilty.
This guilty plea, it was just the beginning because Caitlin was about to present a real problem for the
Courts.
So the ideal for sentencing for me would be
“like locking her up long enough that she can't do this anymore.”
Like to the point where like she's 50 and obviously can't pass as a pregnant woman.
We made numerous attempts to contact Caitlin Braun outlining the allegations made through the series
“and inviting her to respond to what has been said. She made it clear to me that she didn't”
want to be involved with the podcast. The invitation remains open to Caitlin, should she change her mind
and wish to respond? This is a CBC and BBC World Service production. The show is written,
“researched, and produced by me, Sarah Trelevin. It was also written and produced by Kathleen Goldhar,”
extra production support from Andrew Friesen and Alexis Green. Sound design and scoring by Mitchell Stewart. Emily Quinnell is our digital coordinating producer. Our senior producer is Veronica Simmons. The fact checker is Emily Matia. Our executive producers are Cecil Fernandez and Chris Oak. Tonya Springer is our senior manager and RF Naurani is the director of CBC podcast. For the BBC World Service, Cat Collins is the senior producer and John Manell is the podcast
commissioning editor. A BBC World Service and CBC podcast production.
