The mother who abandoned her 3-year-old daughter on Highway 417 near Casselman has been found not criminally responsible on account of mental disorder.
Judge Bertrand St-Arnaud accepted the conclusions of a psychiatric report according to which the 34-year-old woman suffered from an episode of mixed mania with psychotic symptoms, preventing her from distinguishing right from wrong at the time of the facts, believing that her daughter was possessed.
The hearing is continuing to determine whether she will be released, placed on conditions or detained in a psychiatric facility. The girl is now in the care of her father and has physical and psychological after-effects.