A Manitoba court acquitted a Winnipeg mother in a case involving a six year old child left home alone for an hour and a half.

The name of the family is being withheld to protect the child.

In July 2013, the woman left her son alone in front of the TV, inside her locked home, while she ran errands.

The father, her estranged husband, found out and called police.

She was charged with child abandonment for intentionally leaving the boy unattended for 90 minutes.

“The child was found safe, TV on, he was eating pudding,” said Mike Law, the woman’s defence lawyer.

Child abandonment charges could result in up to five years in jail.

The judge said in this case the mother used "poor judgment" and made a mistake, but she didn't break the law.

“She's estranged from the father and his family, so she really had nobody and she had to go to work and she had to get medication,” said Law.

The decision came down to risk.

Provincial court Judge Margaret Wiebe said the boy was left “in a well-kept home with no evident or immediate dangers."

“It would be a stretch and new area of law to consider this circumstance to be child abandonment,” said Law.

If the mother was convicted the case could have set precedent; potentially making it a crime to leave kids under 12 home alone across Canada.

“That has a huge ramifications in that if the government is not going to support more child space, what do you do?,” said child development expert Ruth Lindsey-Armstrong.

Lindsey-Armstrong said that would exacerbate a growing problem.

“Nowadays people are looking for childcare for their 12, 13, 14-year-old because they feel their children aren't independent enough to stay by themselves,” she said.

The mother broke down in tears when she heard the not-guilty decision. She hadn’t seen her son for 15 months and hopes to see him soon.

Since the incident the child been staying with his father, whose role in this played a part in the judge's decision.

The father called police to say he was worried about his son's safety, yet didn't immediately drive over to check on him.

According to Manitoba’s Child and Family Services act kids under 12 must be left with reasonable provisions made for supervision.

If not, child and family services could get involved.

An incident becomes a criminal charge of child abandonment if there are risks to a child's life or health.