A mother entered a guilty plea to charges Monday after one of her children was injured in a three-storey fall from an apartment window while she was out for a run.
The woman, who is not named because of a publication ban, pleaded guilty to two counts of abandoning a child and one count of criminal negligence causing bodily harm.
On Aug. 26 at about 9 p.m. the woman put her three children to bed. All three were under five years old, and the woman was the only adult in the residence.
At some point later, she went for a run.
While the woman was running, the oldest child climbed out of the bedroom window and fell 30 feet to the ground, suffering a fractured foot, a chin laceration and internal bleeding.
A neighbour called St. Albert RCMP because she heard crying, and when police arrived they found the injured child outside the house, with blood on its hands and clothing.
Police also found blood on a screen window that had come loose when the child fell.
When police knocked on the door, no one answered, and they were unable to reach the mother or the child’s father by phone. They entered the home and found the other two children sleeping.
By the time the woman returned home, the injured child had been taken to the hospital.
Police drove the woman to the hospital, and then later arrested her for criminal negligence causing bodily harm and endangerment.
She told the police it wasn’t the first time that she had left the kids to go for a run, but her lawyer said in previous cases the woman’s mother would watch the kids.
The woman's request for a pre-sentence report was granted. She will be sentenced in April.
