Mother to Face Trial Next Week in Abandonment of 3-Year-Old Found on Ontario Highway
SALABERRY-DE-VALLEYFIELD, QC – Teh trial for the Montreal-area woman accused of abandoning her three-year-old daughter, who was discovered alive after a three-day search along a highway in Ontario, is scheduled to begin next Monday at the Salaberry-de-Valleyfield courthouse. The central question of the trial will be the mother’s mental state at the time of the incident and whether she understood the consequences of her actions.
The case hinges on determining “if Madame was able to know what she was doing and if it was bad or else,” according to Crown prosecutor Me Lili Prévost-Gravel. No witnesses will be called,as the facts of the abandonment are admitted. Psychiatrist Marie-michèle Boulanger,who conducted a psychiatric assessment of the accused,will testify.
The assessment was ordered in early July by Judge Bertrand St-Arnaud to evaluate the mother’s criminal duty. A 48-page report from the Philippe-Pinel Legal Psychiatry institute was delivered to lawyers on Monday morning, but its contents remain sealed. The accused is currently receiving treatment at the Philippe-Pinel institute.
While the Crown is not seeking a psychiatric counter-expertise, disagreements exist between the parties regarding the assessment’s conclusions. The mother faces up to 10 years in prison if found criminally responsible for criminal negligence causing harm and child abandonment.
Should she be deemed not criminally responsible, judge St-Arnaud will determine the conditions of her detention or release, followed by oversight from the Administrative Court of Quebec.
The woman, a resident of Lasalle, initially reported her daughter missing in mid-June, presenting herself in a confused state at a business in Coteau-du-Lac, Montérégie. A large-scale search ensued, culminating in the child’s discovery three days later in a ditch beside Highway 417 in Ontario. The girl was found dehydrated but otherwise healthy.
