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The family of a woman who lived with Alzheimer’s is fighting for court-ordered restitution more than seven years after rings were stolen by a health-care aide off her arthritic finger at a Winnipeg personal care home.
The worker, Anna Mercado, pleaded guilty to eight counts of theft for stealing jewelry from Anne Kytaychuk — who died in April 2019 — and seven other residents at Kildonan personal care home in February and March of 2019. She was sentenced in February 2020 and served a one-year jail sentence.
She has paid some, but not all, of the restitution she was ordered to give victims or their families.
“It’s not the money. For me, it’s about how victims are treated in our system, especially the seniors who were all traumatized by this action,” said Carla Sly, Kytaychuk’s daughter.
Kytaychuk was 86 when she died, shortly after her wedding and engagement rings were stolen.
Sly was paid restitution of $400 for two stolen rings and got an additional standalone order from the judge in the case for $3,800. Sly said the order was granted because they were able to get the rings appraised through photos.
The $3,800 hasn’t been paid, Sly said. Court documents the family shared with CBC News state that they, not the court, are responsible for collecting on the judgment.
“It feels like victimizing the victim again,” Sly said.
The rings carried sentimental value, which is reflected in a tattoo Sly got on her arm of her mom’s stolen rings after the theft.
Court heard during Mercado’s sentencing that they were sold to a gold buyer along with the other stolen rings and couldn’t be recovered.
“My mom always wanted me to have them, pass them on to my daughter, who was very special to her,” Sly said.
Kytaychuk’s husband had just died, and she was living with Alzheimer’s and rheumatoid arthritis when her rings were removed.
Sly said “it would have hurt” her mom to remove the rings. She had tried previously and couldn’t get them off her mom’s hand.
“It was a person in a position of power who took advantage of very disabled individuals,” Sly said. “No one really had any verbal abilities…. And what kind of recourse do they get if someone is charged and ordered to pay something but there is nothing to enforce it?”
She said part of the problem is that she wasn’t aware she was required to collect the money until three years after Mercado was sentenced.
Sly doesn’t know where Mercado lives, works or banks, making it difficult to serve her with the order.
“We have no access to any information. So, although we are responsible to collect, we don’t have any resources to do so,” she said.
Mercado was ordered to pay the $3,800 when she was sentenced, CBC confirmed in a review of court proceedings.
Court heard Mercado told the author of a pre-sentence report she stole the rings because she was unable to pay her rent. The court heard she had financial difficulty after a separation several years earlier with her husband. The couple came to Canada from the Philippines.
The judge told court at sentencing that Mercado’s financial circumstances were the same as many others in society.
The family of the late Anne Kytaychuk, whose rings were stolen off her finger in a Winnipeg personal care home, is fighting for the restitution a judge awarded them. The case dates back to 2019, when Anna Mercado, a worker at the home, stole jewelry from eight residents.
An unnamed provincial spokesperson said in an email to CBC News that restitution orders are part of an offender’s sentence and the Criminal Code sets out how they work.
Restitution can be imposed as a condition of a probation order, a conditional sentence order or a standalone order, the spokesperson said.
If it’s not paid by the date required, or if a payment plan isn’t followed, the victim can file a claim in civil court to try to collect the unpaid amount.
That’s what Sly is now trying to do for the $3,800, after filing a claim in the Court of King’s Bench.
Taking a case to civil court could result in garnishment of an offender’s wages, salary or bank account. It could also lead to writs of seizure and the sale of an offender’s belongings or registrations against land or property they own.
Given the time that has passed, Sly isn’t sure she’ll ever see the money for the stolen jewelry, which carried much more than a price.
“My mom talked about them all the time and made me promise her I would keep her rings, make sure that I don’t bury her with her rings,” Sly said.
“She was really always insistent about the rings.”