St. Martins mom guilty of defrauding province over care for adult son

A St. Martins mother has been found guilty of defrauding the province in connection with financial assistance she received to help care for her disabled adult son.

Colette Theriault was originally charged with fraud and theft over $5,000 after the province alleged that she misused more than $5,000 a month the Department of Social Development provided for caregivers for her son between January 2014 and March 2018.

Justice Larry Landry of the Court of Queen's Bench stayed the theft charge on Wednesday morning.

In delivering the guilty verdict, Landry reviewed the testimony of several witnesses, including some who said they had received no money from Theriault, despite having their names submitted to the province as part of a work-log Theriault used to keep track of her son's care.

Some of the people Theriault listed as workers were actually friends or acquaintances who had no personal-care experience, nor any knowledge that Theriault was reporting to the government that she paid them to help to look after her son.

While no total was mentioned in court, the testimony of witnesses indicates the total amount defrauded was likely over $100,000.

In the 51-month period that covers the government's case, Theriault would have received more than $260,000 from the government for her son's care, although not all of that is alleged to have been fraudulently used.

The province cut off payments in 2018 after an audit revealed irregularities that would eventually become part of the criminal case.

Dominic, or Nicky, as Theriault calls him, is now 31, but functions at the level of a two-year-old, said Theriault. He cannot speak and has seizures, so he can't be left alone.

After she was cut off by the province, Theriault told CBC News she had been receiving monthly support from the province to hire personal-care workers to come into her home to help with her son.

At that time, Theriault said she sometimes had to pay more than the mandated $14 an hour to get workers to travel 40 minutes to her home and perform tasks such as changing Nicky's diaper, so in the paperwork she submitted to the province, she brought the rate down by spreading the amount paid over more hours than were actually worked.

But she contended she never kept any of the money for herself and never exceeded the total monthly allotment for home-care. She still insists all of the money she received was spent on her son's care.

Theriault will be sentenced on Sept. 9. She declined further comment after court on Wednesday.

According to the Criminal Code of Canada, fraud over $5,000 — fraud is only categorized as being under or over $5,000 — is punishable by a maximum of 14 years in prison. There is no minimum sentence for fraud unless the amount is over $1 million.