Montreal mother who allegedly abandoned 3-year-old daughter will remain behind bars, psychiatric evaluation ordered

The Montreal mother accused of abandoning her daughter, who was found alive on June 18 along a highway in Ontario, will remain behind bars after a judge refused to grant her bail on Friday at the Salaberry-de-Valleyfield courtroom.

A psychiatric evaluation was also ordered, which is expected to take 30 days to complete.

“Regarding the evaluation, the judge decided that he had some ground, so he decided to send her to a psychiatric evaluation,” said Crown prosecutor Lili Prévost-Gravel.

Quebec Court Judge Bertrand St-Arnaud made the decision after two days of hearings earlier this month.

The accused appeared in court Friday wearing a grey sweatshirt with her hair down. She broke down into tears when the decision to deny bail was read by Quebec Court judge Bertrand St-Arnaud.

The 34-year-old woman, who cannot be identified due to a publication ban that protects the identity of herself and her daughter, had testified in court back on July 4 and was questioned by both the defence and Crown attorneys.

The publication ban also prevents media from publishing or sharing details from the bail hearing in order to guarantee the accused a fair trial.

Because of this, the reasoning for the judge’s decision, as well as what discussed in court Friday, cannot be published.

Prévost-Gravel told reporters Friday that it opposed the release of the mother for reasons relating to public safety. The request to have the accused psychologically evaluated also came from the Crown.

“The job of the Crown is to make sure that the public is safe,” she said. “So I’m proud that the judge looked at the proof, decided regarding the criminal code, the criteria, and decided to keep her detained.”

Olivier Beliveau, who represents the accused, did not speak to reporters after the hearing Friday.

Criminal defence lawyer Eric Sutton said that he was surprised to learn that the accused was not granted bail given her lack of criminal history. However, he said that the Crown must have demonstrated that she poses a risk to the public or that releasing her could undermine public confidence in the justice system.

“There is a concern about her mental health,” he said. “So the judge might be concerned that if she was just released back to the community she could commit another offence.”

The mother had been charged on July 3 with criminal negligence causing bodily harm, in addition to the charge of unlawful abandonment of a child that was assigned to her June 16.

The maximum sentence for criminal negligence causing bodily harm is 10 years, while the full penalty for the unlawful abandonment of a child is five years if convicted.

July 4 marked the second day the court heard the evidence from the investigation. The day before, police officers from the Sûreté du Québec (SQ) testified.

SQ officers were tasked with searching for the three-year-old girl on June 15, sparking a massive police operation that went on for over 72 hours after the accused walked into a business on in Coteau-du-Lac, Montérégie, saying that she had lost her daughter.

The young girl was found three days later on the side of Highway 417 in Ontario near the exit to the town of St. Albert by an Ontario Provincial Police drone.

The woman will now be sent to the Philippe-Pinel Psychiatric Institute for a 30-day evaluation. She’s due back in court Aug. 8.

-With files from Alyssia Rubertucci and Zachary Cheung