Kings County woman charged with theft from ALS patient she cared for

RCMP in Kings County have charged a 33-year-old woman with three counts of credit card theft and three of fraudulent use of a credit card after she allegedly stole from a woman suffering from ALS who she was hired to help care for.

Brittany Ann Rawding of Kingston is scheduled to appear in Kentville provincial court for arraignment on March 25.

RCMP spokeswoman Cindy Bayers said Rawding was arrested Dec. 19. The charges involve allegedly obtaining credit card information from the victim and using it to make online orders.

The victim passed away in November 2024 of her disease at the age of 62. She was diagnosed in mid-2023.

A relative of the victim, who didn’t want to be identified or get into specifics about the case, said that as the woman’s condition deteriorated she needed round-the-clock care, and the accused was one of several people hired to look after her when the VON could not. She started work last June.

At that point the victim could not communicate verbally and had to use a tablet.

She said the family contacted RCMP after noticing unexpected charges on the victim’s bank statements that they couldn’t account for.

She said there had also been phone calls about potential fraud earlier, but those were dismissed by family members because no one suspected anything was wrong.

“They were saying ‘this is the credit card company,’ so (family members) hung up because they thought it was a scam.”

She said once the charges started showing up on bank statements they didn’t know who was responsible, and contacted police a couple months after the accused was hired.

“It took months, but finally they said they had (made an arrest),” she said. “I just want justice for her.”