Toronto - Mother who abandoned newborn Dec. 21st, 2025 in shoebox inside church, now charged - 2026

[LadyL]

First, the baby is alive and healthy. Second, there are no safe haven laws in Canada. In fact, there are people trying to stop the implementation of safe haven baby boxes, which there are very few of throughout the country. Apparently parents can drop off infants at hospitals but it is not anonymous and the parent(s) will be investigated. So I'm confused if the baby boxes that do exist are legal. What does everyone think about them laying charges in this case?

On Monday, Jan. 5, police provided an update, confirming the mother has now been charged with abandoning a child and parent not providing necessaries of life – endangering life. Police have not released the mother’s name to protect the child’s identity.

Charges laid after baby discovered in shoebox at Toronto church

Police have laid charges against the mother of a newborn baby who was discovered abandoned in a shoebox inside a Midtown church.

toronto.citynews.ca

 

[Ceedee]

This woman was probably in crisis (mentally, in a terrible personal situation or both). She left her baby in a church on a Sunday - somewhere warm and dry and where she knew she’d be found. I doubt this will make it to a trial but still, what benefit is there in charging her?

 

[LordMo]

This woman was probably in crisis (mentally, in a terrible personal situation or both). She left her baby in a church on a Sunday - somewhere warm and dry and where she knew she’d be found. I doubt this will make it to a trial but still, what benefit is there in charging her?

yeah, like if she couldn't raise the baby as things currently stood, how does hitting her with jail time or fines improve the baby's situation?

 

[CptCari]

We aren't teaching anyone anything good. I don't understand why she would be charged with anything. She didn't throw the baby in the woods or hurt it. I think the world, as a collective whole, would prefer these actions to any alternatives.

 

[Gemmie]

I'm unhappy that she was charged. She should have had a way to give the baby a better life, which I'm guessing she figured she could not. A shelf in a CHURCH sounds to me like she wanted to pick a good and caring spot so the baby would be found and cared for. It's not like some 'mothers' who dump their babies in the garbage dead or alive.

 

[otto]

Agreed that the woman was in crisis and unable to cope with caring for an infant. If it was legal to abandon a baby with the hope and assumption that the baby will be found in time, it opens the possibility of someone leaving a baby on a doorstep, in a bus, on a train, in a park. There's no certainty that the baby will be found in time.

Newborn babies need a lot of care every couple of hours. Although mother and baby are receiving care and are in good health, I also agree that charges will be dropped or reduced due to mental health considerations.

One phone call to the healthline would have provided legal options for placing the infant in care and assistance for the overwhelmed mom.

 

[musicaljoke]

Agreed that the woman was in crisis and unable to cope with caring for an infant. If it was legal to abandon a baby with the hope and assumption that the baby will be found in time, it opens the possibility of someone leaving a baby on a doorstep, in a bus, on a train, in a park. There's no certainty that the baby will be found in time.

Newborn babies need a lot of care every couple of hours. Although mother and baby are receiving care and are in good health, I also agree that charges will be dropped or reduced due to mental health considerations.

One phone call to the healthline would have provided legal options for placing the infant in care and assistance for the overwhelmed mom.

Mothers in crisis might not know or be able to reason out the best solution. I also see what she did as a careful way for her to deal with an untenable situation.

Where is the male partner who impregnated a vulnerable woman and who did not provide a safe place for his child to be born? It sickens me to see how routinely the male partners walk away without even a sideways glance.

No one needs to suggest that the male did not know the potential results of his action.