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11-day-old left in van while mother shops
7/19/2008 at 6:02 AM
By TAMARA CHERRY, SUN MEDIA
The Toronto Sun
Just 11 days after she was born, a baby girl was left in a stiflingly hot van while her mother shopped in a nearby store.
People walking by the van on Queen St. in downtown Port Perry heard the infant crying, opened the van's unlocked sliding door and found her secured in a baby seat under a blanket Thursday, Durham Regional Police said yesterday.
The newborn's 36-year-old mother, who was gone for more than 10 minutes with her two other children - 4 and 6 years old - returned to find strangers caring for her child.
According The Weather Network, the temperature in Port Perry reached 31C Thursday, but felt like 37C with the humidity.
The baby was examined at a hospital, but had no "permanent" injuries, police said.
It's unknown whether the mother planned on returning at that time or if she saw people at her van and came outside, police spokesman Dave Selby said.
DRAMATIC RISE
"Temperatures inside vehicles on hot days, sunny days, they really rise dramatically fast," Selby said, adding that charges against the mother may be filed, pending a police investigation.
Durham Children's Aid Society has been called in to investigate whether there are "ongoing child protection concerns," executive director Wanda Secord said yesterday, adding she believes this is the first run-in the family has had with CAS.
"That's a very new baby and they're the most vulnerable," Secord said. "We have to look at what the parent was thinking when she left the child in the car. It may be that she was thinking, 'Well, I'll just be very quick and I'll be back.' "
Durham CAS generally hears about a few cases similar to this one every summer, Secord said.