Ottawa detective Helen Grus had 19 years on the job, including child-abuse work

One autopsy, she said, showed an enlarged heart. She told the chief on 13 January 2022. By 4 February she was suspended.

She accessed infant-death files she was not assigned and asked a father about the mother’s COVID vaccination. The force called it an unauthorised project and a privacy breach. A tribunal found her guilty of discreditable conduct in 2025. In 2026 she was demoted for two years.

She says she saw a spike and did what a detective is supposed to do. The service says she chased a theory and crossed the families.

Those two stories have never been reconciled in public.

A 19-year detective said something was wrong with the babies. The system punished the question. That is the record.

Ottawa detective Helen Grus had 19 years on the job, including child-abuse work. She said healthy babies were going home, then collapsing and dying in their parents’ arms. One autopsy, she said, showed an enlarged heart. She told the chief on 13 January 2022. By 4 February she… pic.twitter.com/LMmYfrEYlJ

— “Sudden And Unexpected” (@toobaffled)September 13, 2026