A Montreal mother accused of abandoning her three-year-old child on the side of a highway last month is back in court Thursday and is facing an additional criminal offence.

The 34-year-old woman was arrested June 16 after reporting her daughter missing the day before in Coteau-du-Lac, Que., triggering a massive police search. She was later charged with child abandonment.

The young girl was found alive on June 18 on the side of Highway 417 near St. Albert, Ont., about 150 kilometres west of the family home in Montreal.

The girl’s mother returned to the Valleyfield courthouse Thursday for a bail hearing and was charged with the more serious charge of causing bodily harm by criminal negligence, an offence that carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison. According to a charge sheet, she is accused of failing to “provide the necessaries of life for a child” under the age of 16 as a parent.

She broke down in tears as she listened to the testimony of a Quebec provincial police officer.

The name of the woman cannot be published in order to respect the privacy of the child, whose identity is protected by a publication ban. There is also a standard publication ban prohibiting any information relating to evidence presented in court from being released.

The Crown prosecutor is opposed to releasing the mother from custody.

Her bail hearing continues Friday.