← The Con: Kaitlyn's Baby
The Con: Kaitlyn's Baby
Kaitlyn's Baby | Episode 6: A problem like Kaitlyn
00:30:15
<p>At Kaitlyn Braun’s sentencing hearing, victim impact statements are shared. A court-ordered report lists concerns about Kaitlyn’s risk to reoffend. Would house arrest, probation and restricted internet access be enough? Unexpectedly, the judge says he needs more time before making a decision, urging the lawyers to come up with a better offer. Psychological experts weigh in on the complexity of cases like Kaitlyn’s, exploring questions about intent versus compulsion. </p><p><br></p><p><strong>Content warning: This episode contains strong language and references to baby loss and sexual behaviour.</strong></p>
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- [00:02]
Jeff Turner
I'm Jeff Turner, host of the podcast On Drugs. Each episode I take a deep dive into a different aspect of drug culture. And this season we cover everything from the popularity of ketamine to the enduring allure of tobacco. We explore the age of ozempic and the magic and mystery of anesthesia. You can listen to episodes of On Drugs wherever you get your podcasts. A BBC World Service and CBC podcast production. A warning. This episode contains references to sexual assault.
- [00:43]
Verena Henchy
Okay, so you want me to start right at the beginning. So Covid had hit big time, and women who were pregnant were in an absolute panic.
- [00:59]
Jeff Turner
This is Verena Henchy. She's a doula based in Lincolnshire, England, 3,500 miles away from Brantford, Ontario.
- [01:08]
Verena Henchy
So quite a few of us doulas got together and we decided that we would offer an emergency service, that we would pro bono offer our number out for people to contact us so that we could give them some support over the phone. And I got an early evening call and it said, hello, I'm a first time mom. I've just turned 39 weeks yesterday. She continued to contact me by text many, many times over the next few hours. And then eventually she gets in touch with me verbally on the phone and starts to talk me through her labor and begs me to stay with her, begs me not to go. And I was up all night, the whole night with her.
- [02:06]
Jeff Turner
At some point, as night turns to day, Verena is told that midwives have arrived. And as the sun comes up, the baby arrives too.
- [02:17]
Verena Henchy
There is a baby cry. Then she says, oh, feeling a bit. Oh, feeling not very good.
- [02:27]
Jeff Turner
Oh, oh, something seems to be going wrong. There's too much bleeding. And the midwives, who have been texting with Verena throughout this whole ordeal, are apparently worried and have called an ambulance.
- [02:39]
Verena Henchy
She tells me that the baby actually has some congenital heart condition. And it's decided that his chances of survival are absolutely minimal.
- [02:54]
Jeff Turner
Rena supports her client through this impossible situation.
- [02:59]
Verena Henchy
I was with her in total for nine days. I was very, very overwhelmed. Very overwhelmed. And then there was something really weird that happened. On the ninth day, I got a message supposedly from the midwife who said, what do you think? Do you think I should breastfeed this baby?
- [03:23]
Jeff Turner
Why is the midwife asking if she should breastfeed this baby?
- [03:28]
Verena Henchy
And it really quickly unraveled, like within half an hour, I knew it was fake.
- [03:36]
Jeff Turner
This story sounds very familiar, doesn't it? Well, here's the twist. This woman targeting Verena, the doula, it was not Caitlin For CBC and the BBC World Service, I'm Sarah Trelevin and this is the con Caitlyn's baby. Episode 6 A problem like Caitlyn Unlike Caitlin, this woman in the UK used a fake name. But just like with Caitlin, we understand that she targeted multiple doulas and presented as vulnerable and socially isolated.
- [04:41]
Dr. Catherine Nunes
You don't question a grieving mother or someone who's claimed that they've been raped, especially in the context of a society that historically has a narrative of not believing women.
- [04:52]
Jeff Turner
This is Dr. Catherine Nunes, a clinical psychologist in the UK who has studied the behavior of people who fake pregnancy.
- [04:59]
Dr. Catherine Nunes
And so you're left with these injured people being unsure about how to balance that, how do I stop this happening to me again? But also I believe people and I don't want to let go of that.
- [05:20]
Jeff Turner
Dr. Nunes worked on a paper about this with Dr. Mark Feldman. Dr. Feldman is the co author of the book Dying to Be Ill and a clinical professor of psychiatry and adjunct professor of psychology at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa. And he's an expert in a rare type of personality disorder.
- [05:41]
Dr. Mark Feldman
Factitious disorder itself is kind of a strange term, but it refers to people who feign, exaggerate or actually induce illness in themselves or others because they find it emotionally gratifying. It sounds really perverse, but the primary motive in these cases is that people enjoy and feel desperate for attention, sympathy, care, concern that they feel unable to get in any other way. And illness is one of the obvious ways in which people can get special dispensation.
- [06:26]
Jeff Turner
The nature of factitious disorder makes it nearly impossible to track. The Cleveland Clinic, a top research hospital, estimates that about 1% of people admitted to hospitals in the US are believed to have the disorder, but cautions that because patients seek treatment at multiple healthcare facilities and don't typically acknowledge their disorder, the numbers are likely misleading. And Dr. Feldman adds that this disorder is largely underdiagnosed, suggesting that more people have it than we realize. When being examined by the court ordered clinician, Kaitlin shared that she had been previously diagnosed with bipolar disorder, anxiety depressive disorders and factitious disorder. But because of the deliberateness of Caitlyn's actions, the court appointed doctor rejected the diagnosis of factitious disorder and said her behavior was more consistent with borderline personality. Despite her struggles with mental health, Caitlyn's lawyer didn't petition the court to have her declared not competent. She was considered fit to stand trial and held responsible for her actions. How are you guys doing. I mean, it's weird.
- [07:48]
Caitlin Braun
Yeah.
- [07:48]
Jeff Turner
This has got to be one of the weirder things that has ever mildly. But in addition to everything else, it's January 17, 2024, more than a month since that guilty plea, and I am back outside the same courthouse. The prosecution and Caitlyn's lawyer will be presenting the judge with a sentencing agreement today. Yeah, so I saw that police van. I'm gonna assume Caitlin was maybe transferred in that. Although I guess it could be somebody else. Caitlyn has been in custody for 10 months. Today. Her victims and the swarm of media who are also attending are here to find out what will happen to her next.
- [08:25]
Dr. Catherine Nunes
The Crown attorney said that pleading guilty shows remorse.
- [08:30]
Jeff Turner
Caitlin's victims, like Shawna, were pleased that her guilty plea meant there would be no trial. But it also became clear that certain charges had been dropped, including the sexual assault charges related to multiple incidents, like Caitlin asking for massages while naked.
- [08:48]
Dr. Catherine Nunes
All of the sexual assault charges were, like, brought down to, what would they call it, Indecent act. So she will. She has no possibility of being on the sex offender registry, which we're all pretty disheartened by.
- [09:05]
Jeff Turner
The courtroom doesn't open until 9:30, but by 9:00am we all move indoors. It's just way too cold to wait outside. Yeah, I'm surprised the courtroom isn't open yet. Not only will the sentencing agreement be presented today, but. But so will the victim impact statements.
- [09:24]
Dr. Catherine Nunes
And I know that there have been a lot of people just like in the general public who have had a really hard time understanding how awful it was. So, yeah, I really hope that our victim impact statements help to communicate that.
- [09:41]
Jeff Turner
This is the doula's chance to finally be heard. It takes almost two hours to read all of the statements into the record.
- [09:57]
Dr. Catherine Nunes
On November 15, 2022, I received a message that would change the trajectory of my life.
- [10:03]
Jeff Turner
We weren't allowed to record the doulas making their statements in the courtroom, but Katie, one of the doulas I spoke to, posted her full statement on TikTok.
- [10:12]
Dr. Catherine Nunes
I've spent the last year in fear for not only myself, but for every doula in the area and across the world. There's nothing limiting Caitlyn's reach, which is why her crimes are so devastating. Her words repeat in my head and her messages haunt the screenshots on my phone. I'm desperate to no longer have to hold onto this trauma as evidence. I'm terrified of the day when she may be released. The thought of seeing her out in public or even A new account popping up online is enough to make me.
- [10:34]
Jeff Turner
Physically ill. Shauna later sent me a recording of her statement as well.
- [10:40]
Dr. Catherine Nunes
Kaitlin Braun was my very first client, meaning that any client I ever have will be affected by what she did to me. Since my time with Ms. Braun, I have been fearful of finding new clients. Every new referral I get, I wonder if they are being truthful. I no longer offer virtual support. This means that a large portion of the population no longer has access to my birth doula services, and I have less experience than I could have. This is a loss to the community, not just to me. After reading what I've written so far, one thing jumps out at me. Fear. Kaitlin Braun has made me afraid to do the work I am so passionate about. The trauma that Kaitlin Braun caused me and my family is possibly difficult to understand and certainly difficult to describe, but cannot be understated.
- [11:35]
Jeff Turner
As the Doulas spoke, Kaitlin sat in the prisoner's box. She was wearing a thick burgundy turtleneck sweater, her brown hair in a ponytail. Her hands and ankles were shackled. She had turned 25 while in jail, with every word of personal testimony. As the fallout of her actions was described in detail, her head dipped further and further down until two hours later, I couldn't see her face. Caitlin also had a chance to speak for herself. She stood and after almost a year of silence, finally addressed her crimes.
- [12:22]
Caitlin Braun
Your Honor, I'd like to thank you for the opportunity to speak before the court.
- [12:27]
Jeff Turner
A member of our team is reading portions of Caitlin's statement from the court transcript.
- [12:32]
Caitlin Braun
I stand before you today because of the regrettable decisions I made that caused harm to a lot of people. I know that the words I speak today do not take back what I did, and I know that they don't automatically create healing. However, it is my hope that the words, along with my plan of action, show that I'm a changed person. My time in custody has allowed me an opportunity to reflect upon what I did, and this also allowed me the opportunity to decide what kind of person I want to be moving forward.
- [13:07]
Jeff Turner
While in jail, Caitlin participated in all kinds of programming, much of it religious. Her lawyers submitted a thick package of certificates she earned behind bars. From healthy body image to human trafficking awareness to managing emotional pain and grieving with God.
- [13:25]
Caitlin Braun
What I did was ultimately very wrong, and I feel a strong sense of shame when I think about the hurt and the pain that I've caused. I never wanted to be the person I became. I'm ready to approach these supports with honesty and vulnerability, and I'm ready to show that I'm not going to reoffend.
- [13:49]
Jeff Turner
These statements are, of course, meant to demonstrate an understanding of one's actions, a commitment to reform, and a promise not to harm people. Again, helpful for Judge Robert G. Who has a sentencing agreement on the table. That agreement suggests that Caitlin spend two years on house arrest, three years probation, and lots of therapy. When these kinds of plea deals are reached between the prosecution and the defense, the judge usually accepts the arrangement. But on this day, that is not what happened.
- [14:35]
Verena Henchy
World of Secrets we investigate the dark side of the wellness industry, following the story of a woman who joined a yoga school only to uncover a world she never expected.
- [14:45]
Jeff Turner
I feel that I have no other choice. The only thing I can do is to speak about this where the hope.
- [14:50]
Verena Henchy
Of spiritual breakthroughs leaves people vulnerable to exploitation. You just get sucked in so gradually and it's done so skillfully that you don't realize. World of Secrets the Bad Guru Listen wherever you get your BBC podcasts.
- [15:07]
Jeff Turner
Everyone in Ringgold, Georgia knew Alvin Ridley as the local boogeyman. So when his wife died, Alex, everyone in town assumed that he murdered her.
- [15:16]
Dr. Mark Feldman
The tabloids had headlines like Sicko Holds wife hostage for 30 years, then kills her.
- [15:23]
Jeff Turner
I'm Kathleen Goldar and this week on Crime Story, I sit down with one of the few people who believe that Alvin was innocent, his lawyer, McCracken Poston. Find crime Story wherever you get your podcasts. Judge G has presided over Caitlyn's case from almost the beginning. He's the one who has to decide if the deal in front of him is acceptable. To help with that, her lawyer shared details of Caitlyn's life. A submission from her mother describes her childhood as normal. But following her parents breakup, her mother says her daughter experienced separation anxiety. She says Caitlin's dad often canceled visits and left Caitlin feeling abandoned. Caitlin would also constantly call her mother while she was at work, desperate to be reassured that she was coming home. Kaitlin's dad has since died. According to her medical records, from the time she was 17 until she was 24, Caitlyn went to the hospital more than 170, 70 times. The court ordered examiner believes most of those visits were probably based on lies. All of this led Judge G to ask which of her diagnoses he should accept as real.
- [16:50]
Dr. Mark Feldman
I don't mean to, you know, try to pick on her.
- [16:53]
Jeff Turner
These are Judge G's words read by a colleague or embarrass her in front.
- [16:58]
Dr. Mark Feldman
Of a crowd of people. But she's fundamentally dishonest and her whole history is filled with deception and manipulation.
- [17:07]
Jeff Turner
I wasn't able to discuss Caitlin's case with her own doctors, but I did speak to Dr. Feldman. He has not spoken directly to Caitlyn, but he has spent a lot of time studying people he says are like her. He says he was surprised that the court hadn't accepted the diagnosis of factitious.
- [17:24]
Dr. Mark Feldman
Disorder, but I had never spoken to her. And so I'll defer somewhat to the evaluator who actually met with her and reviewed her records, which I have not done.
- [17:38]
Jeff Turner
Dr. Feldman has spent years studying factitious disorder and speaking to patients who have it. He says in his experience, many cases are never diagnosed.
- [17:48]
Dr. Mark Feldman
There's a real knowledge deficit when it comes to factitious disorder, both in terms of what it is and what it is not. And people are uncomfortable with it. They view it as extraordinarily rare. It's under detected, so it's rarely diagnosed. But based on my 30 years of experience, it's much more common than we think because most of the examples go unidentified. These people are also master con artists and have great verbal skills and can make it seem like there are other reasons for their behavior that are more acceptable and maybe make even more sense to them than factitious disorder.
- [18:35]
Jeff Turner
And do these patients typically know that what they're doing is wrong even as they continue doing it?
- [18:42]
Dr. Mark Feldman
Yes, they do. They know it's wrong. Many of them tell me that they don't view themselves as bad people. They view themselves more as desperate people who needed just a little attention. An individual has to decide to either falsely report, exaggerate or self induce illness. And you can tell from the extensive planning that occurs in so many of these cases. The planning can go on for weeks, months or years. They've made serious decisions to badly victimized and string along otherwise loving and caring people. And I can't forgive that. Personally, I view it as essentially untreatable and I think it has to be referred to instead the police and the criminal justice system to stop the kinds of escalation and damage that occurred in this case.
- [19:47]
Jeff Turner
Here's what the court ordered report said. Ms. Braun demonstrates a limited insight, poor self control, severe emotional dysregulation, and a surprising lack of empathy or remorse for her behavior. Despite being under the care of both a psychiatrist and psychotherapist at the time, she had not availed herself to the assistance that was available. Untreated, her risk for reoffending would be considered high. The joint plea agreement between the defense and prosecution argues that instead of being locked up, what Caitlyn actually needs is a specialized treatment that's not available in jail. It's called dialectical behavior therapy, A highly targeted, often years long treatment designed for people with personality disorders. But the judge presses. It's clear he's not totally sold on this deal. Judge G wants to know if this type of therapy is even available in Caitlyn's town. If it is, can she get a spot? Is there a waiting list? I asked Shauna what she thinks should happen to Caitlyn.
- [21:00]
Dr. Catherine Nunes
My biggest worry is, since it happened to me has been that she's going to do it to other people. And that's the only reason that anybody went to the police. That's the only reason that I have been doing interviews and have been sharing my story. It's not fun to share my story. I don't like doing it, but I feel a responsibility at this point to get it out there. So the ideal for sentencing for me would be like locking her up long enough that she can't do this anymore. Like at least and like to the point where like, she's 50 and obviously can't pass as a pregnant woman anymore. I just don't believe that she can be rehabilitated. I don't think that she is going to do the work herself to get rehabilitated.
- [22:04]
Jeff Turner
Everyone who attended the sentencing hearing that January was there to find out what would happen to Caitlin. But in the end, no one was going to get that answer that day. When we were all called back into the courtroom that afternoon, Judge G announced he needed more more time. Caitlyn was sent back to jail and the judge ordered both lawyers to come up with a better plan. Something that might serve Caitlyn's mental health needs but also provide protection to the community. A conditional sentence or house arrest would require Caitlyn to live with her mother, Kimberly Ross. Kimberly would be responsible for making sure that Caitlyn adhered to the rules set out by the judge. Staying off the Internet, wearing a GPS tracker and only leaving the house for things like seeing doctors or buying groceries. But as Judge G grappled with the evidence presented to him, there's something he never heard in court, something the doulas told me. They said Caitlin's mother was at the house when Caitlin was pretending to be in labor.
- [23:19]
Dr. Catherine Nunes
Caitlyn and I were sort of hanging out in her bedroom and laboring in there, or we were going for walks outside and like her mom would come for walks with us.
- [23:31]
Jeff Turner
I've seen pictures taken by Shanna where Caitlyn is doing something called curb walking. It's a technique people use to help induce labor, walking with one foot on the curb, the other on the road. In this picture, Caitlyn is sweaty and clearly appears to be in distress, completely exhausted, and her mother is right there walking next to her.
- [23:57]
Dr. Catherine Nunes
Yeah, her mom was, like, fully there and involved in everything that was happening.
- [24:04]
Jeff Turner
The doulas are convinced that Kimberly Ross knew what was going on, but there was no discussion in open court about whether she's an appropriate guardian. She was there on that day of her daughter's sentencing, wearing oversized glasses, her hair tied back in a slick bun, her expression impossible to read.
- [24:25]
Dr. Catherine Nunes
The judge needs to know that if he puts her on house arrest in.
- [24:29]
Jeff Turner
Her mom's home, it's not suitable supervision. Yeah, we put these allegations to Caitlyn's mother, Kimberly Ross, and she has declined to comment for this podcast. Finally, a month later, on the morning of February 14, 2024, Judge Robert G announced his decision. Despite his reservations, Judge G accepted the joint sentencing submission. Caitlin would get out of jail and be placed on two years of house arrest with her mom and three years probation. He called the sentence distasteful, but said his hands were tied.
- [25:22]
Dr. Mark Feldman
The 21 offenses committed by the accused, Kaitlin Braun, have caused significant, long lasting harm to her victims.
- [25:32]
Jeff Turner
Again, this is my colleague reading the judge's words.
- [25:35]
Dr. Mark Feldman
I'm also unsure counsel are adequately assessing Ms. Braun's risk to the community. But again, the case law dictates I'm required to accept their position.
- [25:49]
Jeff Turner
Judge G also said Caitlyn would be required to engage with some form of therapy, but it wasn't clear what that might look like.
- [26:03]
Dr. Catherine Nunes
The judge only did that because he felt like he needed to. Like his hands were tied because it was a joint submission. Like he knew that that was not giving anyone justice, but he had to do it.
- [26:21]
Jeff Turner
The doulas were left wondering if house arrest with her mother and going to therapy would work. Could Caitlyn stop herself from doing it all over again? Here I am again. I honestly never thought that I would.
- [26:43]
Caitlin Braun
Be making another video like this.
- [26:45]
Jeff Turner
We got an answer even sooner than expected.
- [26:49]
Dr. Mark Feldman
I didn't think I'd have to use.
- [26:50]
Jeff Turner
This platform in this way again, but.
- [26:54]
Caitlin Braun
I cannot sit by and say or do nothing.
- [26:59]
Jeff Turner
That's Amy Silva on TikTok again. In the last week, I have had people reach out to me that they have been getting scammed. In April of 2024, while on house arrest, Caitlin contacted another doula and a family helpline worker in search of emergency pregnancy support, sending one of them almost 600 text messages over three days. For the first time that we're aware of in these two cases, Caitlin used a pseudonym. Two months later, she was arrested again and sent back to jail because she committed these crimes while on house arrest. Breaching the terms of her release, Caitlin will now serve the remainder of that first sentence in custody. On January 7, 2025, Caitlyn pled guilty to a total of four new offenses, two counts of false pretenses with intent to defraud, one count of intent to harass, and one count of intent to injure or alarm. The Crown and Defense have again stated their intention to provide a joint sentencing submission. This time they're asking for three years in prison, which will be served after Caitlyn completes the sentence for her original conviction, which has just over a year remaining. So Caitlyn is potentially facing up to four years of incarceration. As of this recording, the judge is still reviewing the sentencing proposal and we are no closer to solving a problem like Kaitlin we made numerous attempts to contact Kaitlin Braun. This included writing to her in prison, 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. You've been listening to the Caitlyn's Baby produced by CBC and the BBC World Service. The series is written, researched and produced by me, Sarah Trelevin and produced, written and edited by Kathleen Goldhar. Our senior producer is Veronica Simmons. Extra production support from Andrew Friesen and Alexis Green. Sound design and scoring by Mitchell Stewart. Emily Kannell is our digital Coordinating producer. The fact checker is Emily Mathieu. Our podcast art was designed by Natalie Weinberg. Our cross promo producer is Amanda Cox. Our video producers are Evan Agard, Tamina Aziz and John Lee. Special thanks to Evan Kelly, Jason Paris, Damon Fairless, Kelvi Goldhar Killick and Phelan Johnson. Our executive producers are Cecil Fernandez and Chris Oak. Tanya Springer is our Senior manager, Arif Nurani is the director and Leslie Murphy Merklinger is the Executive Director of CBC Podcasts for the BBC World Service. Kat Collins is the Senior producer and John Mennell is the Podcast Commissioning Editor. A BBC World Service and CBC Podcast production.