On January 7, 2025, Caitlin Brown stood before a judge again, her voice strained. This time, it's Hamilton, Ont. was in – but the charges were familiar.
Brown pleaded guilty to a total of four charges: two counts of false pretenses with intent to defraud, one count of intent to harass, and one count of intent to injure or alarm — all related to her actions in spring 2024, when she pleaded guilty to both. A birth worker and a family crisis worker, telling them she was pregnant and needed emergency help.
It was a lie, and only one of many. And it wasn't his first time in court. Because Brown, just 26 years old, is already a repeat offender, there are believed to be dozens of victims. The story is also the subject of a new podcast from the CBC and BBC World Service – Con: Caitlin's baby.
Brown's rapid recovery underscores the criminal justice system's challenges in dealing with criminals like him: A young, nonviolent offender with well-documented mental health struggles who appears unable or unwilling to stop doing very specific types of harm. He is an unlikely candidate for a long prison sentence, nor does conventional treatment appear to have been effective.
So, what do you do with Brown – and challenging cases like this?
Caitlin Brown's Modus Operandi
In March 2023, social media in southern Ontario lit up with a very specific sign: #doulascammer. Doulas are birth workers, but they do not provide medical services, but rather provide emotional and educational support, and sometimes physical touch, such as massage, to help ease anxiety and pain for women in labor.
On the platforms, mostly on TikTok, doulas were sharing stories of betrayal and trauma, hoping to warn others and pressure authorities to take action.
Caitlin Brown, the doula said, had a specific modus operandi. She approaches each doula, usually on social media, with a sad story: she was pregnant as a result of sexual abuse and decided to keep the baby. Her family was abusive, she says, leaving her without any meaningful support. Maybe this doula care enough to help?
Several doulas reached out to Brown on the phone. This was during the COVID-19 pandemic, a time when healthcare professionals and support workers were accustomed to doing their jobs remotely. Some doulas met him in person, and they believed what he told them.
Brown had a large body, and it was very likely that she was carrying a late pregnancy. And besides, a doula's job is to stand in someone's corner, not doubt their story.
For some doulas, offering intimate support for Brown's fake pregnancy was as far as it went. She confided in them, asked them to rub her sore shoulders, and had them help her in the shower and outside.
But for others, it was much worse. Over the course of several days, Brown would take a few doulas through an escalating series of disasters — including a pregnancy loss, a hysterectomy, a cancer diagnosis, rape and even a coma — as they struggled to help her, grieve with her, and, they thought, save her life.
Based on the number of people sharing their stories on social media and group chats formed by Caitlin's victims, some doulas estimate that Brown pulled the same trigger dozens of times, possibly involving more than 50 people. Brann was arrested in March 2023, shortly after the social media #doulascammer storm began. He was charged with crimes related to web of lies – fraud, harassment, sexual assault. (The sexual assault charge was later dropped.) But what to do with her—that was another story.
We made several attempts to contact Kaitlyn Braun. This included writing to him in prison, outlining the allegations through a podcast series and inviting him to respond to what was said. She made it clear she didn't want to be involved with the podcast. The invitation remains open, if he changes his mind.
3 major forms of severe mental illness
Recognized by Public Safety Canada Three major forms Serious mental illness in the Canadian criminal justice system: Psychotic disorders, bipolar disorder and major depressive disorder. People with these types of mental illness are disproportionately represented in the criminal system and are more likely to face barriers, including lack of housing and employment, that contribute to overall instability. Some estimates suggest that the prevalence of mental illness in federal correctional institutions is three times that of the general population.
According to Amanda ButlerFactoring mental illness into sentencing decisions is a complex situation, said Simon Fraser University's assistant criminology professor.
“The overarching principle that trumps all other principles is the safety of society,” Butler said. “So, rehabilitation is certainly included in the objectives and principles, but it is not always the most important from a legal point of view.”
Section 16 of the Criminal Code of Canada outlines the relationship between mental illness and the commission of a crime, but the threshold for NCR – or, not being criminally responsible – requires a person to be so ill that they are unable to understand that their actions were wrong. . (Despite struggling with mental health, Brown's attorney did not petition the court to declare him incompetent.)
“It sets an extremely high bar that is rarely met unless a person is in a state of psychosis at the time of their crime,” she said.
This section of the Criminal Code does not address defendants and incarcerated individuals who are considered technically fit and therefore responsible for their actions, and sometimes struggle with serious mental illness. It can be considered a mitigating factor and is often discussed before sentencing, but the results can be unsatisfactory.
“We don't have a lot of options in terms of what judges can do or remedies.”
Imprisonment, often chosen with public safety rationales, can exacerbate existing mental health conditions, and even induce new ones—all within the context of limited resources.
“If a person needs to be deprived of liberty because we have reason to believe they are at risk of continuing harm, then we have to decide what that looks like,” says Butler. “They're separated from the community, but are we really going to make them better?”
A long history of mental health problems
When Brown's first case reached the system, the Crown prosecutor and his lawyer offered a joint submission to Justice Robert Gee as part of a plea deal.
They requested that he receive a two-year suspended sentence (also known as house arrest) and three years of probation. Both attorneys explained to Judge Gee that Brown was not in jail. She had struggled with mental health issues for years. He needs serious intervention that he will not be able to go behind bars.
During an examination by a court-ordered physician, Brown shared that he had previously been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, and anxiety and depression disorders. She also claimed that she has been diagnosed with factitious disorder – where someone creates an illness to satisfy an emotional need. According to his medical records, between the ages of 17 and 24, he went to the hospital more than 170 times. The judge believed that most of those visits were based on lies.
A new report examining the state of mental health in Canada shows that millions of people with mental illness are unable to get the care they need within the publicly funded system.
But because Caitlin's actions were intentional, a court-appointed doctor ruled out a diagnosis of factitious disorder, saying her behavior was more consistent with borderline personality disorder.
Justice G was concerned about two things. One, Brown had no real plan to get any support tailored to his exact needs. In an underfunded health care system, with a particular lack of resources for mental health diagnoses, she is re-admitted while waiting for treatment. What prevents insults?
Which brings us to problem No. 2: A court-ordered pre-sentence report indicated that Brown was at high risk of reoffending. that even if she received treatment, she was unlikely to engage meaningfully with it.
Judges need more options: expert
When mental illness is a contributing factor to a criminal offense, Butler wants to see expanded options available to judges. Community-based alternatives to incarceration for people with mental illness should be increased, and better mental health care for those in custody, she says.
Butler says we also need expanded publicly funded mental health resources and earlier interventions. In Brown's case, the recommended therapy for borderline personality disorder is conflictual behavior therapy, but Butler says an intensive DBT course can cost thousands of dollars — and that's often in addition to a long waiting list.
After a month off, Brown returned to court on February 14, 2024, to be sentenced on her original charges. Justice Gee reconvened the parties in a Brantford, Ont., court, and after nearly a year in custody, Brown was ordered to serve two years of house arrest and another three years of probation.
It seemed like a resolution to a saga that had been going on for almost a year. But by April, she would be back in prison for the same crime, and the cycle would begin again.
Brown is currently awaiting sentencing for the charges to which he pleaded guilty in January 2025.
