Ottawa Police Service Det. Helen Grus in Ottawa on Sept. 20, 2025. The Epoch Times
OTTAWA—Helen Grus, an Ottawa Police detective found guilty of discredible conduct for investigating the COVID-19 vaccination status of the mothers of deceased infants, says she still thinks about the case frequently.
“When I sleep, I sleep soundly, but when I am awake, I do think of this every single breathing moment that I’m awake. About what has happened, what is happening, what will the future bring,” Grus said in an interview with The Epoch Times at a fundraiser for her legal case in Ottawa on Sept. 20.
However, Grus said she feels “blessed” to be a police officer and to be able to “fight for these babies and their lives and their parents.”
Grus, who formerly served with the Ottawa Police Service (OPS) sexual assault and child abuse unit investigating child abuse and neglect, faced a charge of discreditable conduct for undertaking an “unauthorized project” between June 2020 and January 2022. Grus investigated the sudden deaths of nine Ottawa children by accessing OPS files and not recording her involvement in the files.
Grus also contacted the father of a deceased infant to ask about the COVID-19 vaccination status of his wife, with the OPS saying this was done without the knowledge of the lead detective on that case. At an internal OPS hearing in October 2022, Grus was suspended without pay, but was ordered to return to work with restrictions.
Hearing
Following a lengthy police disciplinary hearing that took place throughout much of 2023 and 2024, in March 2025 Grus was found guilty of discreditable conduct under Ontario’s Police Services Act. Retired Superintendent Chris Renwick, the officer in charge of the hearing, said Grus had allowed her “personal beliefs and opinions to seep into her professional responsibilities and cloud her judgement,” and that her actions had the “real potential of bringing discredit to the reputation of the OPS.”
The defence argued during the hearings that Grus had not started a formal investigation into the deaths, and was merely at the probative stage.
A penalty hearing will be held to determine the punishment, but Grus has appealed the ruling. While submissions for sentencing began on Sept. 3, it has been adjourned for now to an undetermined date after Grus’s defence submitted large volumes of affidavits in support of her case to show that her attempt at investigation was warranted.
Grus told The Epoch Times that she should not have needed permission from her supervisor to access the database, and that’s part of the reason she’s appealing the decision.
The detective also noted that Pfizer had not tested its COVID-19 vaccines on pregnant or breastfeeding mothers during the early roll-out of the vaccines. She said since she wasn’t given a chance to investigate the issue, she couldn’t determine any causal relations. “I don’t know if the vaccine caused it, because we didn’t get that far,” she said.
Health Canada says pregnant “people can safely get vaccinated against COVID-19 at any time during pregnancy or while breastfeeding.” Pfizer says its phase 2/3 tests on pregnant women 18 years or older “ suggest the vaccine is well-tolerated by both mothers and infants and supports a favorable benefit risk profile in pregnant women.”
In the United States, U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said in May that COVID-19 vaccines are no longer recommenced for healthy children and pregnant women. The directions on the website for Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are in the process of being updated to reflect the updated decision.
Grus said she’s also appealing the hearing’s decision because it didn’t take into account “that there was an increase in baby deaths” and only focused on the “unwritten rule” around accessing OPS files. The court documents said that even though Grus had “learned of an internal OPS statistic” suggesting a doubling or tripling of infant deaths, Grus had not been tasked with reviewing any links between the COVID-19 vaccine and the infant deaths.
Renwick, the officer presiding over the hearing, said during the hearings that, “This hearing cannot and will not be a venue for opinions and theories linking vaccination to child deaths.”
‘Very Difficult’
Grus said the situation had been “very difficult” because she believed that every life is “precious.”
“We’re trained to preserve life in very dangerous situations, but even as everyday citizens, we are here to help each other survive and make the most of this life that we have and help each other,” she said.
Rick Wilhelm, a retired OPS officer who attended the fundraiser, said the police service and union wasn’t providing Grus proper support.
“I’ve worked with people over the years. [Many have] done terrible things, and the Ottawa Police Association has always supported them no matter what they’ve done,” he said in an interview.
Willhelm said Grus should have been allowed to pursue a “legitimate lead in a case.”
The Epoch Times contacted the OPS and the OPA for comment. Prosecution lawyers argued in the court that Grus’s investigation wasn’t authorized by her chain of command, that she “interfered” in a case by contacting the father of a deceased infant, and that she didn’t take notes of her actions on this issue.
Jack McLaren, a former Ontario MPP who helped organize the fundraiser, told The Epoch Times that the fundraiser was started to assist Grus pay her “considerable” legal bills.
“She’s not lying down and taking ‘no’ for an answer. She’s fighting for what’s right,” he said in an interview.
Matthew Horwood is a reporter based in Ottawa.