Updated: Tue Nov. 28 2006 6:34:16 PM

CTV.ca News Staff

A Toronto couple facing charges after five children were found sitting alone in car while the parents did their Christmas shopping have had prior dealings with the Children's Aid Society, CTV News has learned.

The children had been alone for up to 90 minutes after a passerby spotted the children at a strip mall near Lawrence Avenue and Dufferin Street on Monday night.

After waiting for a short time, the shopper called 911 and alerted the authorities.

The children, who were unharmed, include a seven-year-old boy, a two-year-old girl, 19-month-old twins and a four-month-old girl. The woman is the mother of all five, while her partner is the father of the twins.

The 26-year-old mother was charged Monday with leaving a child unattended, a provincial offence under the Child and Family Services Act. She is scheduled to appear in court in January.

The father was charged on Tuesday. The couple's names have not been disclosed to protect the identities of the children.

The maximum penalty for leaving a child unattended under the act is a $1,000 fine, one year of imprisonment, or both. They can also be ordered by the courts to attend special parenting courses.

Social workers chose not to remove the children from the woman's care, but they will be continuing to look in on the family.

The kids could be ordered wards of the Children's Aid Society and removed.

"No explanation would satisfy the situation and justify what the parents had done," said a stunned Sgt. Lino Murarotto.

"I really don't understand how they could not think of their children as being valued."

Shoppers were also appalled by the incident.

"They don't love them enough. I don't know how they would do something like that," one woman said.

"It's one of the most ridiculous things I could possibly think of," said a male shopper.

With a report from CTV's Jim Junkin