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Winnipeg Free Press
05-07-2025
- Winnipeg Free Press
Fraud victim's lawyer calls for former health aide to go to jail for nine months
A FORMER health care aide who stole more than $80,000 from a nursing home patient who was dying of cancer is waiting to learn if she is going to jail or will be allowed to serve a sentence under house arrest. Marilyn Dayrit, 50, has pleaded guilty to one count of fraud over $5,000. At a hearing last month, a Crown prosecutor urged provincial court Judge Wanda Garreck to sentence Dayrit to nine months in jail, while Dayrit's lawyer recommended she be allowed to serve a nine-month conditional sentence in the community. MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS FILES A former health care aide at Holy Family Home personal care home stole more than $80,000 from a nursing home patient who was dying of cancer. 'It's hard to imagine a more vulnerable person than someone who is in a personal care home because they require around-the-clock care at the end of her life,' said Crown attorney Eric Hachinski. Dayrit was a longtime health care aide at Holy Family Home on Aberdeen Avenue when in November 2023 she stole a chequebook belonging to the 88-year-old victim. Over the next five months, she forged 30 cheques totalling $81,500 and deposited the money into her own account. The fraud was discovered after the victim's niece, who had power of attorney and was concerned about her finances, was provided access to her banking records. 'Frankly, if (the niece) had been granted access earlier, perhaps this could have been detected and stopped earlier,' Hachinski said. The niece and a bank employee reviewed the records and discovered the forged cheques, the largest of them in the amount of $10,000. Bank security video captured Dayrit depositing the cheques into her own account. Court heard Dayrit's employment was terminated for an unrelated reason on Feb. 1, 2024, after which she continued to cash more forged cheques for another two months before her eventual arrest last October. 'This was not a one-off. This was a continuing pattern over a period of months,' Hachinski said. Police tried to interview the victim, who has since died, but she was unable to understand their questions, Hachinski said. At the time of the fraud, Dayrit was the sole breadwinner for her family, and was supporting her recently unemployed husband, three teenage children, one of whom is disabled, and her mother-in-law, who has early-onset dementia, said defence lawyer Daniel Cleto. 'At the time, they were experiencing a very tight financial situation,' Cleto said. Dayrit also spent some of the victim's money on gambling, using her trips to city casinos as an 'outlet for her stress and anxiety,' Cleto said. 'She acknowledges to a gambling addiction,' he said. Garreck pushed back against the assertion Dayrit had a gambling addiction, saying there was no evidence before her that Dayrit gambled prior to defrauding the victim. Wednesdays Sent weekly from the heart of Turtle Island, an exploration of Indigenous voices, perspectives and experiences. 'It's unclear to me whether she is paying off gambling debts or whether gambling only became an issue after she started taking the money,' Garreck said. Dayrit and her husband, who was unaware of his wife's actions prior to her arrest, have sold their home to repay the victim and the family now lives in an apartment, Cleto said. 'They are trying to make things right,' he said. Dayrit will return to court for sentencing on July 9. Dean PritchardCourts reporter Dean Pritchard is courts reporter for the Free Press. He has covered the justice system since 1999, working for the Brandon Sun and Winnipeg Sun before joining the Free Press in 2019. Read more about Dean. Every piece of reporting Dean produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press's tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press's history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates. Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber. Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
Yahoo
02-06-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Police search for nanny accused of violently assaulting 3 children in the Bronx
BRONX, N.Y. (PIX11) — The NYPD's Bronx Child Abuse squad is actively searching for a nanny accused of violently assaulting three children in her care. According to the family, NYC's Administration of Children Services (ACS) and Selfhelp assigned La'Keysha Jackson to care for the children aged 6, 4 and 2. More Local News On May 7, the children's grandparents, using a Nest security camera, allegedly witnessed Jackson physically abusing the two eldest children by striking them with a belt 58 times. PIX11 News has also reviewed the same video, which shows a woman hitting the children with a leather strap on the body. A short clip of that video, which goes on for about four more minutes, is shown in the video player above. The children's mother, Geraldine Jaramillo, a domestic violence survivor, was referred to ACS by the district attorney's office for supportive services while she was pregnant with her third child. ACS enrolled her in the Family Home Care program and assigned homemakers from Selfhelp Community Services, Inc., a provider certified and paid for by ACS, according to the family's attorney. Problems began when their first assigned homemaker was observed smoking marijuana and drinking alcohol while supervising the children. More: Latest News from Around the Tri-State In May 2024, ACS and Selfhelp assigned Jackson as the new nanny, according to the family. Further review of additional camera footage revealed more incidents of abuse against all three children, including the 2-year-old being slammed into a bed, and other physical and verbal abuse. Upon reviewing the video, NYPD detectives were assigned to the case. A spokesperson for the Bronx District Attorney's Office told PIX11 News that a warrant had been issued for Jackson's arrest on Monday, only after PIX11 got involved on Friday. According to the family, the children experienced significant physical injuries, such as bruised buttocks, and emotional trauma, including fear, aggression, regression, bedwetting, and discomfort with undressing. They are filing a Notice of Claim with the city and ACS on Monday. An ACS spokesperson told PIX11News, 'The safety and well-being of New York City's children is our top priority, and we hold our contracted providers to the highest professional standards. We are taking these despicable actions very seriously, and we have commenced a review of the contracted provider's procedures. The provider terminated the employee and, with the NYPD, we are investigating this incident.' Selfhelp did not immediately respond to PIX11 News' request for comment. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
