Quebec Court Judge Pierre Verdon ruled at a preliminary hearing on Monday that Crown prosecutors had presented enough evidence to try the former biathlete.

"Ms. Bedard took it upon herself to act in a way that effectively deprived (her daughter's father) of his rights, agreed to in a February 2004 order," Verdon said in his ruling.

Bedard's ex-husband told the hearing that he had a hard time getting in touch with their daughter after Bedard fled the country with the 12-year-old girl last fall.

Bedard, 37, spent two weeks in a jail in Maryland, U.S. over Christmas under an international arrest warrant for parental child abduction.

Paquet told the court that Bedard took their child across the border into the U.S. last October with her current husband, Nima Mazhari.

Bedard, who retains primary custody of her child, won two gold medals at the 1994 Winter Olympics.

A date for her trial will be set on June 11.