A man who fled Canada after being convicted of assaulting three vulnerable dementia patients while working as a nurse at a BC care home has been found guilty of professional misconduct, according to a disciplinary decision. A panel of the College of Nurses and Midwives of BC held a hearing earlier this year and the decision was posted online this week. James Christie worked at Selkirk Seniors Village in Victoria in 2015 when the attacks took place. He was convicted and sentenced to six months in prison the following year. A week after being sentenced, Christie appealed the conviction and was released on bail, according to the ruling. “While out on bail, (Christie) has left the country, was declared absent without leave, remains wanted on an outstanding warrant and has not yet served his sentence,” the decision continued. The college’s decision noted that the hearing proceeded without Christie, who could not be located despite “every effort” by investigators to contact him.
THE ATTACKS
The college was made aware in June 2015 of allegations that Christie had assaulted a number of patients while working the night shift at the care home. At the same time, a criminal investigation was launched by the Victoria Police Department. The college’s investigation into the complaint was put on hold while the criminal case went through the courts. The charges were approved soon after, according to the disciplinary decision. In total, Christie was charged with four counts of assault, related to four separate patients. He was convicted of three. All patient identities are protected by publication bans. All three attacks occurred while Christie was changing the residents’ diapers or incontinence briefs. Sentencing Christie, Judge Lisa Mrozinski described the attacks as “heinous” as well as “deliberate, cruel and frankly sadistic in nature”. He described the victims as “the most vulnerable of an otherwise vulnerable population.” In the first case, Christie was helping to change an 80-year-old man who sometimes became “agitated” when staff changed him, the judge noted when sentencing Christie. A colleague testified that Christie offered to show them how to make the patient “more compliant” during this procedure and then hit the patient in the groin. “The blow caused (the patient) to writhe in pain so that his legs and head were raised and he was screaming and moaning,” the court heard of the attack in April 2015. About seven weeks later, the same colleague testified that Christie forcibly restrained another patient who often resisted change. The court heard Christie covered the patient’s face with a blanket before “pushing her upper body down with (his) body”. The colleague testified that the patient was moaning and struggling. The third attack happened later in the same shift. Again, Christie’s associate testified about what he saw. “She described a disturbing incident in which she says she watched (Christie) shake the head of JS’s penis approximately 15 times causing him to scream and moan,” the court heard. This colleague admitted that he did not immediately intervene or report the assaults. Christie used this as part of his defence, arguing that the colleague could not be trusted. “(The colleague) deserves to be condemned for remaining silent in the face of conduct he knew to be harmful and even criminal. His logic, while pathetic, is believable,” the judge wrote. “It is consistent with what we know about human nature that unfortunately some will remain mute in the face of wrongdoing because they are unable or unwilling to act.”
THE PROPOSAL
In handing down the six-month prison sentence with 18 months suspended, Mrozinski emphasized the position of trust Christie held while working at the care home, how vulnerable the victims were and how much anguish his actions had caused the families who had placed their loved ones in home care. “None of the victims here can testify, some are dead, while others are unable to articulate their thoughts and concerns. However, despite their inability – due to advanced states of dementia – to articulate accurately or clearly results of these attacks, each of the victims made it quite clear through their body language and gestures how painful and horrific these attacks were,” he wrote. “Elderly abuse, particularly by a care professional, is an offense that sends chills through a community.” Christie was 25 at the time of the attacks and had no previous convictions.
THE CALL
The BC College of Nurses and Midwives, in the disciplinary decision, says Christie was sent to prison after his conviction on Nov. 9, 2016. When his appeal was filed on Nov. 16, he was released. The next day, as a condition of that release, he was reported to Saanich Community Corrections. That was the last time authorities saw him, according to the disciplinary decision. Eight months later, he failed to report to the bail supervisor. Four months later an arrest warrant was issued. Two months later, Christie was charged with breach of recognizance. The BCCNM decision states that the appeal was dismissed and the convictions were upheld in 2019.
PROFESSIONAL MISCONDUCT
In the years since the assault convictions, the college says Christie’s enrollment has lapsed. However, in 2019 an investigator was assigned to investigate misconduct. An official report was issued in November 2021. It describes four instances of misconduct – the three assaults on patients as well as Christie’s failure to participate in the investigation. The panel found that Christie had committed all four violations. Continuing the disciplinary process, the commission said, was important even in Christie’s absence and even though he had “evaded justice” in the criminal case and refused to participate in the process. “Failure to proceed with the hearing would unduly prejudice the college’s interest and ability to proceed expeditiously with disciplinary hearings against its members, as well as to adequately protect the public by punishing members alleged to have committed serious professional misconduct,” the ruling states. The penalty for the misconduct has not been decided, and Christie has 30 days to appeal the decision.
