The staff of the restaurant called the police, the Sécurité publique de la MRC des Collines-de-l’Outaouais, because they were worried to see that the child was still alone. Hours earlier, around 4:30 p.m. on April 10, the mother had ordered a meal for the young man and told staff he would go out to do some quick chores. At 7 in the afternoon, he had not yet returned. “Once at the scene and after many unsuccessful attempts, a police officer finally reached the child’s mother at around 7:30 pm,” Outaouais police said in a statement. “At that time, the woman told us she would be there in a few minutes and that she was still at the spa.” Police said the child was in good hands at the restaurant and “did not appear to be disturbed”. The mother, a 38-year-old from Montreal, “did not seem to understand the police presence and downplayed the fact that her child had been left alone in a restaurant for about three hours,” police said. A police spokesman, Martin Fournell, said the woman would not face charges because she did not break any law. However, the case was referred to the Montreal Youth Protection Authority.
