A fantasist who tricked doulas into giving her naked massages by pretending she was pregnant has been arrested again just three months after telling a court she was a “changed person”.
Kaitlyn Braun, 25, was sentenced to two years of house arrest in February after causing “immeasurable pain” to more than a dozen pregnancy support workers across Ontario with her stories of sexual assault and stillbirth.
The social worker did her best to maintain her pretense, telling them that she had a bleeding disorder and terminal cancer, and sending two of them a photograph of a stillborn baby at the end of her treatment.
The news that he is facing multiple new charges has made his previous victims feel doubly betrayed.
“There have been a lot of feelings within our group, a lot of conversations have taken place,” Amy Silva said. ‘Emotions are running high. The conversations are heated.
Kaitlyn Braun, 25, was sentenced to two years of house arrest in February after causing “immeasurable pain” to more than a dozen pregnancy support workers across Ontario with her stories of sexual assault and stillbirth.
During the ordeal, Braun convinced doulas that she had a bleeding disorder and kept them on the phone while she pretended to undergo medical procedures and then said she had been diagnosed with terminal cancer.
London-based doula Amy Silva said news of Braun’s new charges had shocked his previous victims: ‘Emotions are running high. Conversations are heated.’
“It’s a tough place for all of us right now, and we’re all in different places in our journey of healing and growing from all of this, which makes coming back to this a little harder for everyone.”
Some of the doulas supported Braun in person at her home in Brantford, others by phone or video chat.
She told some that her “pregnancy” was the result of sexual assault.
But it was Braun herself who was the sexual aggressor, accused of forcing 19 victims to give her massages while she was physically naked with the “intention of insulting or offending them.”
One victim, Amy Perry, said her experience with Braun left her traumatized, after she tried to support the pregnancy faker for eight days.
Perry told CTV News last year that she helped Braun virtually and for free, adding, “The moans, the sounds he made were really realistic, even during the last stage of labor, during the transition, he even vomited.” “. which is normal.
“We really felt like there was a person who was alone in the world going through something really horrible and we were willing to go beyond the scope of our practice and help her.”
Shauna Hayes, who also worked pro bono, claims Braun told her she had been sexually assaulted outside a hospital, so she initially refused to go.
Doula Shauna Hayes took to TikTok to reveal how she was tricked by Brantford fantasist
Abigail Dienesch, another victim, said she felt “violated” after supporting Braun 24/7 on social media.
The doula then took her to the hospital, where she continued to fake her contractions after several hours.
Her performance was so convincing that nurses thought they had found the “baby’s” heartbeat, before performing an ultrasound that showed she was not pregnant.
She then told her doula “I’m very confused” and refused any psychiatric help from the hospital, despite having scans in Hamilton three weeks earlier showing she was not pregnant.
“I just want it to stop,” Hayes said. ‘For me it’s not about punishment. It’s simply about protecting other doulas and preventing them from going through what I went through.
Another victim, who did not want to be identified, said: “It’s strange and very sad that doulas have to control or question their clients, I want to be able to trust people’s word.”
At his trial in December last year, he admitted 21 charges, including fraud, indecent acts, false pretenses and mischief, between June 2022 and February 2023.
His lawyers told the court he faced mental health issues, including memories of childhood sexual assault, severe depression, generalized anxiety disorder and bipolar and borderline tendencies.
The court also heard he had made almost 200 visits to the hospital since 2006.
“I know that the words I speak today do not nullify what I did and do not automatically create healing,” she said at sentencing.
“What I ultimately did was very wrong and I feel a strong sense of shame when I think of the pain I have caused. I never wanted to be the person I became.
“However, I am hopeful that my words, along with my plan of action, show that I am a different person.”
She would seek out doulas – professionals who provide support during pregnancy, birth and postpartum – and tell them that she had become pregnant after a sexual assault or that she was experiencing a stillbirth.
Braun told the court she was a “changed person” as she was sentenced to two years of house arrest in February after admitting to 21 charges.
He was ordered to live with his mother, wear a GPS monitor, not use any computer with Internet access or download social media applications.
Hamilton police arrested her on multiple criminal charges last week, including obtaining by false pretense, communications harassment and alleged failure to comply with a suspended sentence order.
She is also accused of falsely requesting support, related to pregnancy and childbirth, between April 17 and 18.
“Today was tough,” Silva told CTV.
‘We are trying to decide what to do and how to feel. And there is no manual on how to do it.
