Quebec mom who abandoned toddler along Ontario highway not criminally responsible

A Montreal mother who abandoned her three-year-old girl in a rural Ontario field in June has been declared not criminally responsible for the crime.

Quebec court Judge Bertrand St-Arnaud ruled on Monday that the 34-year-old woman could not be held criminally responsible by way of mental disorder. She had been charged with criminal negligence causing bodily harm and unlawful abandonment of a child.

The court heard testimony on whether the woman — whose name cannot be published to protect the identity of her daughter — should remain detained or be released while she receives medical treatment for schizoaffective disorder, which involves symptoms of schizophrenia and another mood disorder.

Marie-Michèle Boulanger, a psychiatrist who evaluated the mother, concluded in a 48-page report that the woman ought to remain in custody at a Montreal psychiatric institute but be permitted some unaccompanied outings.

But Boulanger explained to the court those outings are not an option in the short term. She noted the woman was not known in the mental-health system and it’s unclear if what happened with her daughter is typical of her symptoms during an episode.

The psychiatrist added that the woman is extremely intelligent, high functioning and is able to mask symptoms even when she seems well. Her medication will need time to be regulated.

Boulanger noted the woman has been largely in a “protective bubble” in hospital since the incident and hasn’t seen the media and online reports of the case. Everything can be a stressor — from searching her name to opening up social media to applying for a job.

“I believe her when she says she wants to take her medication and won’t do drugs (cannabis), but there are factors that aren’t up to her,” Boulanger said.

During her testimony, Boulanger noted the woman did think she was protecting her daughter by getting away from her.

“It’s clear that she would never have done that if she wasn’t ill,” Boulanger said on Monday.

St-Arnaud told lawyers he will hear final arguments from the Crown and defence on Tuesday. The Crown will argue for hospitalization with possibility for outings with the hospital’s consent. The defence will ask for a full release with conditions.

The woman’s criminal case ended earlier Monday when the judge issued his ruling. It came after the Crown and defence both said they had agreed on a set of facts in the case, and on Boulanger’s conclusion that the woman’s mental state should prevent her from being convicted.

According to the facts of the case read out in court on Monday, the woman’s mental health had deteriorated over a period of several months and she believed her daughter was possessed. Her mental health had declined with the end of a relationship with a former co-worker and the end of her relationship with the girl’s father in late 2024.

On the morning of June 15, she sent co-workers several text messages and emails that the Crown said exhibited her fragile mental state, without specifying the contents. She also posted a troubling video to TikTok, holding the girl and saying, “You try that again and this is going to get ugly.” It was one of 242 videos she’d posted in a six-month span. She quickly left her west-end Montreal home without her phone so as not to be tracked.

Later in the day, the mother entered a fireworks store west of Montreal and reported her daughter missing, saying she had no memory of the previous hours or of the toddler’s whereabouts.

After three days of intensive searches, a farmer gave police a key piece of evidence that the mother and daughter were at her farm in St-Albert, Ont. The young girl was found alive and conscious nearby on June 18 by Ontario Provincial Police using a thermal drone off Highway 417 near Casselman, Ont., about 120 kilometres west of Montreal.

“It was a hostile environment for a child,” Crown prosecutor Lili Prévost-Gravel told the judge.

The young girl, who is now in her father’s custody, suffers from nightmares. The dad has been forced to stay home from work so he can be with her all the time.

“Right now, he can’t leave her alone, so he can’t work,” Prévost-Gravel said. “He must always be in her presence, and there’s the fear of being abandoned, of course.” She will also require ongoing psychiatric care, Prévost-Gravel said.

The youngster was hospitalized for four days, severely dehydrated and had multiple insect bites and lesions from poison ivy. The girl had difficulty relaxing her fingers because she had kept her fists clenched for so long. As well, her diaper had not been changed in days and as a result she was swollen and infected.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 15, 2025.

Sidhartha Banerjee, The Canadian Press