Edmonton – Edmonton police have charged a mother for allegedly leaving her seven-month-old child unattended in a vehicle.
On Wednesday, police were called after someone noticed a child alone in a mini-van near 137 Avenue and Manning Freeway.
Police say the Edmonton Police Service Child at Risk Response Team (CARRT) arrived at the scene and found the infant alone in a mini-van with the doors locked and the windows partially down.
The temperature outside was reportedly above 20 degrees Celsius at the time.
An officer reportedly unlocked the doors. The child didn’t require medical care.
When the 33-year-old mother returned to the vehicle she was charged with willfully causing a child to be in need of intervention.
“Our awareness campaign stresses ‘A vehicle is not a babysitter’ because a vehicle cannot supervise or react to the immediate needs of a child, be it criminal activity or life-threatening medical distress from the rising temperature inside the vehicle. It only takes seconds for a child to be put at risk,” says Sgt. Gary Willits of CARRT.
Witnesses have told police the infant was alone in the mini-van for at least 20 minutes.
Police are looking at video in the area to determine the exact length of time.