A woman who gave birth and then abandoned her infant son in the bathroom of the local WalMart is facing criminal charges.
A 21-year-old female has been charged with abandoning her child. Police are not releasing her name until her first court appearance on Sept. 13.
The charge in the criminal code is laid against, "everyone who unlawfully abandons orexposes a child who is under the age of ten years, so that its life is or is likely to be endangered, or its health is or likely to be permanently injured."
The baby boy, nicknamed the "WalMart baby" was born on May 21st. Video tape from the store revealed the mother walked into the store and left 14 minutes later.
Staff were alerted to a mess in the washroom and upon investigating found the baby. The child was taken to hospital and released eight days later.
The mother turned herself into police days later.
Mother charged with abandoning baby
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- Published on August 29th, 2007
- Published on November 3rd, 2009
- Brigette Jobin
Little boy left in WalMart bathroom three months ago
The woman who gave birth and then abandoned her infant son in the bathroom of the local WalMart is facing criminal charges.
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- Jenny
- - November 20th, 2009 at 10:43:39
I think a lot of you are missing the point about judging, which many of you are doing in the most self-righteous way, while exhibiting an inability to understand the difference between being held accountable and being judged.
Of course a person should be held accountable for an action such as this, but there is a difference between that and self-righteously judging this person with a holier-than-thou attitude.
You're completely off-target when you intepreted that having a tormented mental state is getting the person off the hook. That is a farce.
It is a REASON, not an EXCUSE - two totally different things. It's not excusing the person or letting them off the hook.
It explains to people that this person is not just someone who walks around thinking of ways to be a miscreant and reap total destruction on another human being's life, but a person who is in a state of mind that none of us could ever comprehend until and unless it happened to us.
So what do you do? You don't let them off the hook. You take serious action to correct the problem and make sure it never happens again, whatever that might entail, and make the perpetrator understand the seriousness of her actions, and if that is not possible because of a mental state that can't grasp such concepts, then they must be supervised at a facility for people who are in this untreatable condition to ensure such acts are not committed again.
But to act like all of you are so holy and unblemished in your life record, no matter how trivial your missteps seem to you, is arrogant, ignorant, insolent, cavalier and indicative of how much disdain you have for yourselves, but are simply using this person as a mirror for your own senses of inadequacy. It feels great to shout down an unspeakable action such as this when you feel so crappy about yourself, doesn't it?
I agree with others who say judging isn't the way to go, and I have always been a 100 per cent advocate of rehabilitation and education, whether dealing with an errant child, a truant teen, or an adult criminal, over repeated punishment over and over again that never gets to the root of WHY the person is doing what they're doing.
I reiterate for the last time: judging and holding somebody accountable are two completely different things that do not necessarily have to go hand-in-hand. -
- me too
- - November 20th, 2009 at 02:09:58
Agreed.
That's not being mean, that's having the Spaldings to speak the truth. It's not like someone sprung this on her and gave her 15 minutes notice she was going to have a baby. She had 9 months to figure out how to handle this and she failed miserably. Glad to see the justice system finally working properly. -
- Jessie
- - November 19th, 2009 at 23:22:18
Sympathy??? Somebody Elses Shoes??? Whatever!!!! Okay I'm really depressed so I'm going to give birth at Walmart and leave the baby for dead!!! Then I want sympathy for not being right! or having problems. Well that is the biggest peice of Bull I have heard this year!!! Lets not Judge??? Oh yeah turn the other cheek right? Do unto others right? Well, I don't care, cause she never cared about that poor baby upside down in the toilet. If she were raped there is the morning after pill, if she was scared of pregnancy? why have sex? this girl is obviously not educated enough to know about the way life is. Sex ed? birth control? Condoms? I hope a mental evaluation is in the mix, cause I don't feel sorry for people who use thier MENTAL state of minds to get off the hook, they new what they were doing so deal with the consequences.
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- Jean & Mike
- - November 19th, 2009 at 20:10:37
We still can't understand why Canada hasn't passed a Baby Safe Haven law, at least in some of the provinces.
You're going to see many more of these instances, or likely a woman will try to safely surrender a baby at a hospital, police or fire station and be jailed for doing what is the right thing in 99% of North America.
In the US 48 states have passed Baby Safe Haven laws, with Hawaii just becoming the 48th. Alaska and Nebraska are poised to pass theirs just after the new year.
These laws have worked remarkably well in many, many states, and are the compassionate way to handle situations just like the WalMart Baby. -
- Me
- - November 19th, 2009 at 18:21:56
Well I don't know about you guys, I know it is was a stupid thing to do what she did. But have you ever heard of putting yourself in someone else's shoes?? We have no idea what was wrong with this person, maybe she had a unstable mental state, whatever it was there was reason for what she did. I don't think we should judge people this way, what if it was your child who had done this? This got me thinking about the woman in Saskatoon who left her baby in the cold, same difference? What ever happend to her? Anyway I just wanted to say that justice will be served but lets not judge people. Be more sympathetic people! For both the mother and the child. Afterall we are only human.
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- me three
- - November 19th, 2009 at 15:01:09
All I can say is that its about time. Cannot imagine the travisty of justice if she was not charged.
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- Mini
- - November 19th, 2009 at 00:27:17
This girl needs more than giving her head a shake!!! Try going to the mental institution, and get your head on straight!!! I've heard of post partum depression but never before you had the baby? True! this girl had nine months to prepare for the birth of her child whether she wanted the baby or not. I know people who are trying to adopt who cannot conceive, its just a shame she never gave the baby a great start in life. Well this baby is famous for being the Walmart Baby, but imagine how this child will feel when he gets old enough to know what really happend at his birth? how do you tell someone your mother didn't want you and left you in a toilet, at th walmart store? Godd for the police and let justice be done. If this girl gets a slap on the hand, then its gonna be a terrible shame.
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- me
- - November 19th, 2009 at 00:00:32
i am SOOO happy that she is facing charges. i know it sounds mean, but if she is responsible enough to have sex AND get pregnant, she should be responsible enough to do something with the child, like putting it up for adoption. NOT LEAVING IT HEAD FIRST DOWN IN A TOILET. like give your head a shake. Shes not a child, she should know better.
it hurts me that someone could do that to a human life. I have 2 children and went through hell to conceive. i cannot imagine doing that to them, i hope she gets what is coming to her. -
- Janet
- - November 18th, 2009 at 20:06:40
I think it is about time we stop making excuses for people and demand that they start being responsible for their own actions and quit blaming everyone or everything for their problems. We all have problems and if we all blamed others for our actions, imagine what this world would be like. I think anyone 21 is capable of knowing she did wrong. I am glad she is being charged.
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- Amanda
- - November 18th, 2009 at 20:03:58
I can't really say if i agree, cause we don't know what happend. She could of been raped and was scared to tell anyone cause they would judge her, just like we are right now, and she was young maybe her family would of not apporved, only god knows what happend.
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- G
- - November 18th, 2009 at 19:23:17
now i have to add my 2 cents to this . i think its time we stop EXCUSING people of their actions because of what could have been a bad up bringing , people have to be held accountable for their actions , oh poor me , i was ..... so i have the right to do this . NOT . she was 21 and know that if you leave a baby in a tiolet bowl of cold water , its going to die , if not from drowning , then hypothermia . she was old enough to realize she had options if she didnt want to keep the baby . the other one from saskatoon was different , she put the baby in a basket with some blankets and put it on a step where she knew someone would find the baby , and was most likely watching from a distance . and the comments from the states about the baby safe haven law ? we dont need it , all they have to do is contact social services and tell them they dont want the baby , its completely confinential . there was NO excuse for this . Had she been under 16 and scared out of her mind , thats a different story , but she was an adult and must be held accountable .
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- Kevin
- - November 18th, 2009 at 17:06:57
It is understandable for people to be upset as a life was in danger and the person responsible should be held accountable. We keep forgetting that canada's judicial system is for rehabilitation not incarsaration. More and more in canada we are putting people in jail and punishing them for their actions , instead of facing the reasons why the person acted the way they did. By punishing some one for a crime instead of rehabilitating, we increase the potential for re occurance of a simular or worse issue.
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- Carrie
- - November 18th, 2009 at 15:50:17
I agree with lets not judge . This is a sad story of which too many of us are quick to judge. We do not stop to think about what may have caused this predicament to happen. I know it's a shocker for many and raged at this kind of behaviour. What we can do is pray for both the mother and the child. Hopefully the justice system will treat this issue as delicately as possible, and definetly counselling would be one of the core guidance for the mother's needs as I would be in most favor of and to which I hope she is receiving today or receiving other professional care. I hope the very best for both the the mother and the child.
