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One pleads guilty, one heading to trial in freezing children case

Oct 20, 2017 | 11:47 AM

LETHBRIDGE – Two women accused of leaving their children in a locked and freezing car last December while they went to the bar, took their cases in very different directions in court Friday morning (Oct. 20).

The 31-year-old and 25-year-old mothers cannot be named to protect the identity of the two children involved.

The 25-year-old appeared in person in court to enter a guilty plea to a charge of failing to provide the necessaries of life.

In an agreed statement of facts read out by the Crown, a civilian called the Lethbridge Police Service at 11:25 p.m. on Dec. 15, 2016, after hearing a baby crying in a locked and shut-off vehicle parked along the 200 block of 5 Street South. Officers arrived on scene immediately, and smashed one of the front windows out of a white SUV, after it was identified by the witness. Inside they found a three-year-old girl who was crying and cold to the touch.

After sending the girl to the Chinook Regional Hospital, police searched the vehicle, and found a four-year-old boy curled-up in a ball under a pile of jackets and shivering silently. Both were wearing winter coats.

Police noted that it was snowing that night and the temperature was -18 C.

A report prepared by a pediatric specialist stated that both children were suffering from mild or early hypothermia, but that neither sustained any long-term physical harm. While the author of the report couldn’t say how much longer the children would have lasted in the vehicle, it was noted that there was a risk of severe hypothermia, frost-bite and even death.

During a search of the area, police found the 25-year-old in a nearby bar, where she was very intoxicated. She told officers that she was there with another individual and that she had forgotten about her child.

The investigation – which included help from the bar – revealed that the woman had been there for about an hour.

After those facts were read in, defence lawyer, Darcy Shurtz, asked that a pre-sentence report be prepared for his client. He added that it should include a Gladue component, which will take into account the woman’s Aboriginal heritage. Sentencing was then adjourned to Jan. 26, 2018.

Meanwhile, a lawyer appearing for the 31-year-old accused, had her matter scheduled for a one day trial in March of 2018. The trial was originally set for this December, but had to be moved back when it was discovered that an expert witness for the Crown would not be available on the scheduled dates.