A woman charged with two counts of infanticide had her case adjourned until Oct. 18 for election or plea.
There have been a few adjournments in the case, but the accused’s lawyer told a provincial court Thursday he expects the matter to “move forward’’ at the next court date.
Court documents state Shannon Dawn Rayner, 39, of Charlottetown willfully failed to obtain medical assistance for a child in 2014 between Feb. 1 and Feb. 28, and again for a second child in 2016 between Nov. 16 and 18.
In both cases, Rayner is accused of disposing of the dead body of a child with intent to conceal the fact the baby was born by concealing it in a bag and placing it in a waste bin.
Rayner has been charged with two counts of infanticide and two counts of disposing of the dead body of a child with intent to conceal the fact it had been delivered.
Rayner has been on conditional release with strict orders to be of good behaviour, notify Charlottetown police of any change of address and/or occupation, refrain from having unsupervised care of any children under the age five and to surrender her passport to Charlottetown Police Services.
Last week, Charlottetown police searched Rayner’s residence. A number of police cars and an ambulance rushed to the home.
Charlottetown Deputy Police Chief Brad MacConnell said at the time a call for service resulted in a search warrant, which led to the seizure of items related to the case.
The Guardian confirmed earlier that Rayner worked at CHANCES, including during the time of her 2016 pregnancy, but was not working there at the time of her arrest.
CHANCES (Caring, Helping and Nurturing, Children Every Step) is a non-profit, charitable organization that exists to provide a range of child development and parent support services to children 11 years old and younger and to their families, particularly those experiencing additional life challenges.
Any woman who commits infanticide is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years.
Police reported in July charges relating to the deaths of two babies resulted from an investigation spanning more than one year.
MacConnell told The Guardian the investigation was sparked by a person in the medical community coming forward last year alleging Rayner had been pregnant twice, but did not have any children delivered in hospital.
