A judge is expected to decide next week whether a Montreal mother charged after allegedly abandoning her three-year-old daughter on the side of a highway last month will be released from custody. The 34-year-old woman returned to court Friday for a second day in a row as she awaits the judge’s ruling on whether or not she should be granted bail. Wearing a grey sweater with her hair tied back and braided, she testified for the first time in court, sometimes wiping tears from her eyes after speaking. The day before, she broke down in tears as she listened to the testimony of a Quebec provincial police officer. The Crown prosecutor is asking the court to keep the mother in custody as she awaits trial, telling journalists outside of court that the accused could commit another offence and should be denied bail. 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. On Thursday, the mother was charged with a second offence, criminal negligence causing bodily harm, which can carry a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison. According to a charge sheet, she is accused of failing to “provide the necessaries of life for a child” under the age of 16 as a parent. On the afternoon of June 15, the mother entered 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 following day, she was arrested and charged with unlawful abandonment of a child. After the child’s disappearance, a massive police search was launched, involving helicopters, drones, and more than 150 police officers and volunteers. The child was eventually found alive by an Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) drone on June 18 on the side of Highway 417 near St. Albert, Ont., about 150 kilometres west of the family home in Montreal. The accused mother is scheduled to return to court next Friday. With files from CTV News’ Swidda Rassy
