Update:
SUDBURY -- A sentencing hearing is being held Wednesday afternoon for a Sudbury mother whose baby drowned in the bathtub while she was distracted by Facebook.
CTV Northern Ontario's Alana Everson will have the latest details on the court case as they become available.
Original:
SUDBURY -- A Sudbury mother, whose 18-month-old son drowned in a bathtub while she was in another room chatting on Facebook, will learn next month whether she will serve jail time as a result of the child’s death.
The woman, 31, whose identity is protected under a publication ban, pleaded guilty back in May to failing to provide the necessaries of life. She was originally chared with criminal negligence causing death.
During the mother’s sentencing hearing on Thursday, the judge heard the woman’s three-year-old and 18-month-old sons were in a bathtub on September 13, 2017, when she went to get a towel from another room.
However, the mother had spent 11 minutes in her bedroom, chatting on Facebook. It wasn’t until then she heard crying and yelling before it stopped. Upon returning to the bathroom, the mother found her 18-month-old unresponsive in the bathtub.
The woman then called her ex-partner, the father of the child, before calling a friend, and finally 911.
"Her presence around children terrifies me immensely," said the boy’s father in his victim impact statement read in the courtroom on Thursday.
The judge also heard during the sentencing hearing that the mother has developmental disabilities and functions at a lower level than an average person.
Prior to the child’s drowning, the mother had involvement with the Children's Aid Society and lost custody of two other children.
The Crown is asking the judge to denounce and deter distracted parenting by seeking a nine-month jail sentence in this case. The defence is asking for four months house arrest.
The judge is expected to render his decision on October 30.
