Montreal mom accused of child abandonment to remain behind bars, undergo psychiatric assessment

A judge has ordered a Montreal mother charged with abandoning her three-year-old daughter on the side of a highway last month to remain in custody.

Superior Court Justice Bernard St-Arnaud rendered his decision Friday morning at the Valleyfield courthouse and ordered the 34-year-old woman to undergo a psychiatric assessment within 30 days at the Philippe-Pinel Institute in Montreal.

After being denied bail, she was scheduled to return to court on Aug. 8.

The name of the woman cannot be published in order to respect the privacy of the child, whose identity is protected by a publication ban.

There is also a routine publication ban prohibiting any information relating to evidence presented at the bail hearing from being released.

While listening to the judge, the mother was sobbing and wiped her eyes with the sleeve of the grey crewneck she has worn throughout multiple court appearances.

That wasn’t the only time she expressed emotion. She also gave her own mother, who was in the courtroom, a closed mouth smile when she entered the room Friday.

Crown prosecutor Lili Prévost-Gravel had requested that the mother not be released from jail.

“The job of the Crown is to make sure that the public is safe so I’m proud that the judge looked at the proof … and decided to keep her detained,” Prévost-Gravel told reporters outside of court.

Meanwhile, the mother’s defence lawyer did not stop to speak to the media, but said as he was walking away he would evaluate his options.

There is still a possibility of a trial, depending on the outcome of the psychiatric evaluation.

Child found after massive search in Ontario and Quebec

The mother was arrested June 16, one day after she walked into a store in Coteau-du-Lac, Que. telling workers that she had no memory of the whereabouts of her daughter for the past several hours.

The toddler was missing for more than three days before being found alive — and alone — on the side of Highway 417 near St. Albert, Ont., by a police drone on June 18, following a massive search by more than 150 police officers in Quebec and Ontario.

Following her arrest, the mother was charged with unlawful abandonment of a child.

After appearing in court on July 3, she was charged with a second offence: criminal negligence causing bodily harm, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.