Quebec mom accused of abandoning her child in rural Ontario to stand trial next week

A Montreal mother charged with abandoning her three-year-old daughter in a field in rural Ontario has been scheduled to stand trial on Sept. 15.

The court has heard that the Crown and defence don’t agree on all the conclusions of a psychiatric evaluation of the accused.

As a result, Quebec court Judge Bertrand St-Arnaud will determine whether the 34-year-old woman, whose name is under publication ban, should be held criminally responsible for her actions.

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Prosecutor Lili Prévost-Gravel told reporters following the brief court hearing that the facts of the case are not in dispute — only the accused’s mental state at the time of the alleged crime.

The mother has been charged with criminal negligence causing bodily harm and unlawful abandonment of a child, and the results of her psychiatric evaluation have been placed under seal.

She had reported her daughter missing on June 15 at a store west of Montreal and told police she had no memory of the previous six hours or of the girl’s whereabouts.

After days of intensive searches, the girl was found alive and conscious on June 18 by Ontario Provincial Police officers near Casselman, Ont., about 120 kilometres west of Montreal.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 8, 2025.