Selkirk woman arrested after false reports made to Kids Help Phone

RCMP have arrested a 34-year-old woman from Selkirk accused of making several false reports to the Kids Help Phone, claiming she was about to hurt herself and wasting valuable resources.

Manitoba RCMP began looking into the public mischief in March. Investigators determined that between August last year and March this year, Selkirk RCMP were called to eight incidents involving a female, whose identity was unknown, “reporting comments of self harm” through the help phone.

In each instance, police, emergency medical and crisis intervention services attempted to identify and locate the female, but were unsuccessful, say RCMP.

During five of the incidents, the individual “falsely identified” herself as other people, prompting “further investigative measures” and requiring the assistance of other public agencies, RCMP say. Twenty-five Mounties spent about 239 hours investigating the false claims.

On April 17, investigators arrested the 34-year-old woman they believed to have made the false reports. She’s to be charged with identity fraud, criminal harassment and public mischief. She’s been released on conditions ahead of a court date in June.