Newborn Baby Left Inside Hot Vehicle, Police AllegeFriday July 18, 2008
CityNews.ca Staff
People leaving their pets inside their cars is a disturbing story you often hear about during heat waves, but police allege an even more shocking scenario played out east of Toronto this week involving a newborn child.
Passersby noticed an infant, just 11 days old, under a blanket in the rear seat of a van parked on Queen Street in downtown Port Perry Thursday. Police claim the newborn girl was alone and crying in the hot vehicle.
"The temperature inside vehicles rises dramatically when they're outside on a warm day and it doesn't take very long at all before the conditions inside of a vehicle like that get very hot," Dave Selby, a spokesperson for Durham Regional Police, explained.
The temperature soared to nearly 30C Thursday but it felt much warmer with the humidity.The van was unlocked and the people who spotted the tiny child inside opened the doors to assist the little girl. Police say the 36-year-old mother was shopping nearby with her other kids, ages four and six, and she was allegedly gone more than 10 minutes.
"The child was in the back, and there was a blanket on top of the child, probably to protect the child from sun. The mother was nearby ... but the reason why this was an issue, obviously, is this is an 11-day-old child and citizens walking by heard the child screaming and yelling from inside the van," Selby said.
Paramedics were called to the scene and the infant was taken to a nearby hospital where doctors confirmed that she is okay and didn't suffer any permanent injury.
Both police and the Children's Aid Society are investigating this case. So far, no charges have been laid against the Scugog woman. Her name hasn't been released to protect the identity of the child.
"We're still determining whether there will be charges in this situation. I guess the worst type of charge is ... endangering life ... but until we speak to some more people that were there, we're still holding back on whether we're actually going to charge the lady," Selby exlained.
Authorities are reminding parents and caregivers of the dangers of leaving small children inside vehicles on sunny and warm days.
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This to me is incredible. They are debating whether or not to charge her. A man leaves his dog in a car, and he is charged, handcuffed to a vehicle, left vulnerable and subject to assault, yet a woman leaves an
11 day old baby in a vehicle on a hot humid 30 degree celcius day
(at least 92 degrees F) under a blanket, in an unlocked vehicle where anybody could have opened the door and snatched the child, and they are
"contemplating" whether to lay charges?
An 11 day old brain is far more vulnerable to heat damage. Their skull is probably still soft!
