TORONTO - Police have charged a Toronto father with child abandonment after an infant girl was left in a hot car in Oakville, west of Toronto.
Halton Region police said the nine-month-old girl was left unattended in the car Sunday in a Home Depot parking lot for about 10 to 15 minutes.
Police said the baby was seen sweating profusely and crying but was OK after she was examined by paramedics and released to her mother.
When an in-store announcement about the child drew the father back to the vehicle, police say a group of angry people "berated" him.
The father has been released from custody pending a court appearance and his name is not being released to protect the child`s identity.
Police are urging people to call 911 if they see any children left alone in a vehicle in the heat. The warning is particularly important this week, with a forecast calling for humidex values above 40 C with little relief in sight until Friday.
Sunday's incident is just the latest of several cases of young children being left in hot cars.
The grandmother of a Milton, Ont., toddler who died last month after being left alone in a sweltering car was charged with criminal negligence causing death and failing to provide the necessities of life.
In Edmonton on July 2, when temperatures hit a scorching 33 C, a three-year-old girl was found dead in a hot car. Investigators determined the death was "non-criminal."
