Eganville man pleads guilty to sending indecent messages to Nili Kaplan-Myrth

Article content

An Eganville man has pleaded guilty to indecent communications after a Jewish physician who is also a school board trustee received hate-filled voicemail messages, including one purporting to be from “Mr. Hitler.”

Dr. Nili-Kaplan-Myrth, an outspoken Ottawa-Carleton District School Board trustee and advocate for vaccination and masking, received a number of voicemail messages at her medical practice in June 2023. They were traced to Oz Wheeler of Eganville.

Article content

Under the Criminal Code, it is illegal to make an indecent communication to a person with the intent to alarm or annoy.

Court heard on Wednesday that Wheeler’s message from “Mr. Hitler” stated: “I would like you to suck my balls. I currently live in Sweden and I am under the impression that having your balls sucked is a good remedy for ball cancer.”

A second message read out in court stated: “I am a little Jewish girl and I’m currently being molested by a goyim.”

A third message stated: “I just wanted to say you’re doing a really good job of selling the Jewish story to the goyim….. Oh, how do you like that Jewish piece of sh– that you’re selling?”

Kaplan-Myrth said the aggressiveness and antisemitism expressed in the messages raised concerns for her safety and have caused trauma for herself and the Jewish community.

“My office staff has to listen to these messages and I have to listen to these messages,” she said in a statement read to the court.

“I’m hyper-vigilant because I don’t know whether someone like Mr. Wheeler, who chooses to swear at me and use derogatory language on my clinic voicemail, would also show up at my door.”

Article content

Article content

Kaplan-Myrth said she has to keep her office door locked between patients and has security cameras at her office and her home. It’s not possible to change her phone number because it is used by patients and medical colleagues, she told the court.

She added that she fears others may seek retribution.

Kaplan-Myrth said she has received dozens of phone calls and emails between 2021 and this year, including some that threatened to throw her and her family into gas chambers or turn them into lampshades. All of the messages have been forwarded to the Ottawa Police hate crimes unit, but only a handful have been traceable, she said.

David Sachs of the Jewish Federation of Ottawa told the court that many members of the Jewish community have experienced antisemitic abuse and threats. The outcome of the case could send a powerful message, he said.

“Our faith in the institutions that protect us has been badly shaken,” said Sachs.

“Dr. Kaplan-Myrth has endured relentless threats and vitriol, and her suffering has reverberated across our community. The impact of these public cases extends far beyond the individuals targeted.”

Article content

The court heard that Wheeler is attending a John Howard Society program called “Project ReSet.”

The program is aimed at supporting those affected by hate-motivated violence and can provide interventions aimed at “disengagement and reintegration for cases of radicalization to violence,” according to Public Safety Canada.

Wheeler has been ordered to undergo a psychiatric assessment. A sentencing date had not been set.

In an interview after the hearing, Kaplan-Myrth said she wanted to be in the courtroom on Wednesday.

“It was important for me to be there and be the human face. This was not just a person leaving messages on a phone.”

Two other men were charged after Kaplan-Myrth received similar messages.

In Oct. 202  a Windsor man was charged with hate-motivated crimes, including intimidating a health worker, after Kaplan-Myrth received anti-vaccine phone messages. 

In Dec. 2023, a British Columbia man was charged with harassment, intimidation and indecent telecommunications after she received messages with references the Holocaust and misogynistic slurs.

Article content