Montreal mother charged in abandonment case to continue psychiatric evaluation

Prosecutor Lili Prévost-Grave speaks to the media after a court hearing for the Montreal mother who allegedly abandoned her three-year-old daughter in a rural area of Ontario, in Salaberry-de-Valleyfield, Que., Wednesday, June 18, 2025. (Christopher Katsarov/The Canadian Press)

The 34-year-old Montreal mother charged with allegedly abandoning her daughter in a field near a major Ontario highway will continue to undergo a psychiatric assessment.

A Quebec court judge ordered the evaluation to continue at a Montreal psychiatric hospital during a brief court hearing today west of Montreal.

Judge Mylène Grégoire says the 30-day evaluation ordered a month earlier by another judge hasn’t been completed.

• READ MORE: Montreal mom who allegedly abandoned daughter on Ontario highway charged with criminal negligence

The accused, whose name is subject to a publication ban to protect the young girl’s identity, will remain at the facility and return to court on Sept. 8.

Police found the woman’s three-year-old daughter alive and conscious in a field near a highway in Ontario on June 18, four days after the girl was reported missing.

The woman faces two counts of criminal negligence causing bodily harm and unlawful abandonment of a child.

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