ROCKVILLE, Md. — A Montgomery County mother charged in the disappearance of her two young children has been ordered to continue receiving mental health treatment and will not yet stand trial.
Doctors treating Catherine Hoggle, 28, of Clarksburg, Maryland say she cannot communicate properly. Montgomery County District Judge James Sarsfield ruled that Hoggle remains too mentally ill to face the charges against her.
Hoggle appeared in court Friday morning and told Sarsfield that she understands what is going on around her.
“Her opinion as to her own condition really carries no weight,” said defense attorney David Felsen. “She suffers from paranoid delusions and schizophrenia.”
Hoggle is charged with neglect, abduction and hindering a police investigation.
She was the last person seen with her children, 2-year-old Jacob and 3-year-old Sarah, in September 2014. The children have not been found, and Hoggle has not said what happened to them.
She will continue receiving treatment at Clifton T. Perkins Hospital Center and will return to court for another review of her mental state on Nov. 23.
Hoggle has been housed at the Maryland state mental institution since her arrest last fall. She was ordered to undergo an intensive rehabilitation program in January.
