A woman from Sarnia, Ont., has been jailed after stealing $50 from a boy’s birthday card.
On June 10, 2022, Chantelle McManus, 39, travelled by taxi from Sarnia to an apartment in the nearby town of Corunna, where a nine-year-old boy and his 13-year-old sister were alone at home, The Sarnia Observer reported.
McManus, a stranger to the children, was found downstairs in their living room when the teen girl went to check on her barking dog.
McManus left the house with an old prescription bottle of ten hydromorphone pills, a glucose monitor, and $50 from a “Happy 10th Birthday” card.
“I find that to be repugnant. You know exactly who you’re stealing from,” Assistant Crown attorney Sarah Carmody said, calling the situation “egregious.”
McManus was arrested after a property manager, who recognized her from video surveillance, identified her since she had previously lived at the building. The stolen birthday money, along with the rest of the other property was not recovered.
McManus was sentenced to 84 days in jail after she pleaded guilty to charges including being “unlawfully in a dwelling house,” two counts of theft under $5,000, and one count of “breaching bail conditions in unrelated cases.”
During the sentencing hearing, Carmody read a letter from the children’s mother, which stated, “Ms. McManus, your actions have traumatized both me and my children.”
McManus read a letter she wrote, telling the court that she previously lived in the Corunna apartment building, and thought that she was going to see her own children when she entered the home.
Her defence lawyer Robert McFadden said that McManus has been homeless for the past two to three years and is struggling with a fentanyl addiction. It was also noted that she was under the influence of something on the day of the incident.
McManus apologized to the mother and her two children. “I wish that day never happened.”
Standing in the prisoner’s box, with tears in her eyes she said, “I’m truly sorry and I hope you can forgive me,” the Sarnia Observer reported.
Justice Mark Poland ordered her to repay the boy his $50 and stay away from Corunna for the next 18 months.
“I must say I agree with Ms. Carmody about the depth of the low that was plumbed here when Ms. McManus stole the $50 from this child’s birthday card,” Poland said. “That is a particularly galling offence.”
He also added on 10 extra days in prison, instead of just sentencing her to time served, to allow her time to figure out her exit from jail, after McManus expressed her desire to seek treatment for her addiction.
“You can do this,” Poland said.
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