Former RN sentenced for assault against mother

A 34-year-old former registered nurse was sentenced recently for assaulting his mother and breaching a court order not to consume alcohol around her.

Scott Ford Lutz received four months in jail minus time served since his June 6 arrest. He also received an additional one month in jail for breaching a May 14 court order not to be around his mother while consuming alcohol, which he did between June 4 and June 6. Lutz must also pay $200 in victim surcharges.

Court heard that on June 6, Montague RCMP was dispatched to Lutz’s mother’s home in Millview. She told police that Lutz arrived at her home on June 4 and drank alcohol. The following day, she bought alcohol for Lutz after he kept bugging her to do so. They drank together, and she went to bed. Lutz went into her bedroom between 2 a.m. and 3 a.m. and hit her on her lower back to wake her up. He demanded that she take a taxi and buy him more alcohol, according to the Crown prosecutor.

Lutz then put his hand on her neck, applied pressure and said he knew how to kill her.

The mother played dead and made her body limp but did not become unconscious.

The Crown prosecutor then said Lutz threw her on the floor, kicked her and pushed her head to the floor.

When he went to the bathroom, she accessed her computer and made a Facebook post requesting that someone call 911 because her son was being abusive.

This was not Lutz’s first time before the court. The Crown prosecution read Lutz’s criminal record, which includes assault, uttering threats to cause bodily harm, forcible entry, mischief and breaches.

Lutz’s lawyer told the court her client had a successful career as an RN but lost his job and his relationships due to alcohol abuse. She added that Lutz was sober for about a year after going through a treatment program but has since relapsed. He’s trying to get into another treatment program.

Chief Judge Nancy Orr said it’s a “very sad day” when someone loses everything because of alcohol abuse. But, as a trained registered nurse, Lutz should have known better than anyone else the impact of alcohol abuse.

Orr also noted that his mother has an alcohol problem. And, when his “criminal career” began, she was the one driving him to the liquor store, which was also the case during this incident.

She added that Lutz has surrounded himself with “enablers” regarding his alcohol abuse, including his mother, but Lutz has also put her in that position by getting her to buy booze for him, said the judge.

Besides the jail term, Orr sentenced Lutz to three years of probation. Orr didn’t include a condition not to consume alcohol because she didn’t want to set him up for failure, but she advised him not to drink alcohol.