The outside of the Saskatoon courthouse. Photo: Brent MacGillivray/APTN News
A judge has granted bail for a Saskatoon woman accused of faking her death and that of her son and illegally crossing the border into the United States.
Provincial court Judge Lua Gibb says the 48-year-old woman, who cannot be named due to a publication ban, can be released on $10,000 bail and must abide by certain conditions.
The woman is bound by a 24-hour curfew as part of the electronic monitoring program in Saskatoon. The judge approved her sister as her surety.
The woman is charged with public mischief and child abduction in contravention of a custody order in Canada and also faces two charges in the U.S. related to identity fraud for allegedly crossing the border with fake identification.
The woman and her seven-year-old son were reported missing in July after her pickup truck was found at a park south of Saskatoon.
On Aug. 5, after two weeks of search efforts, she and the boy were found in Oregon City and she was arrested.
Her lawyers and friends and family have said the Indigenous woman was a victim of domestic abuse who sought help from officials in Saskatchewan but the system failed her.
The woman’s next court date is Sept. 19.
With files by Leanne Sanders
