19-year-old accused in Prince Albert child abduction case makes 1st court appearance

The19-year-old man accused of abducting an eight-year-old girl in Prince Albert, Sask., made his first court appearance Thursday morning.

Jarrod John Charles, of St. Louis, Sask., is charged with abduction, kidnapping, abandoning a child, criminal negligence, forcible confinement, sexual assault, sexual interference and invitation to sexual touching.

Charles was arrested late Tuesday night without incident at a business in the 2900 Block of 2nd Avenue West in Prince Albert.

On Thursday,Charles made a brief court appearance over video, dressed in a whitejumpsuit.

"Obviously, given the nature of the charges, which include abduction andkidnapping, along with the sexual assault charge, we feel it's an extremely serious situation," said Crown prosecutor John Morrall.

Charles was remanded into custody until his next court appearance on Friday.

Missing for 5 hours

The eight-year-old girl had been reported missing by her family Tuesday at 3:30 p.m. CST. The incident triggered an Amber Alert.

According to police, she had been alone in a playground in the Crescent Acres area, near cole Vickers School, when a man showed up and remained there for about 15 minutes.

Police said the girl was seen leaving the playground, and the man followed her to the schoolyard and was speaking to her.

She was grabbed and placed in the back seat of his car, and he then climbed into the front of the vehicle and drove away from the school, police said.

The girl was foundat around 8:40 p.m.

Record of sexual assault

In September 2016, another Amber Alert involving Charles was issued after two young boys were taken from the northern Saskatchewan community of La Ronge.

At the time, police said Charles had been spotted walking with the boys in the town shortly before their disappearance.

• 2 missing boys found, 18-year-old man facing abduction charges

The boys were eventually found at a home in St. Louis and returned to their families. They weren't harmed.

Charles was charged with two counts of abduction of a child and two counts of breaching an undertaking. In December, the abduction charges were dropped by the Crown after prosecutors further examined the evidence.

At that same court appearance, Charles was sentenced for a June 28, 2016, sexual assault in St. Louis. The victim was a nine-year-old girl from the community. He received a 3-month sentence, which he got credit for as time served, and three years probation. He was ordered to stay away from children under 16.

Charles was entered into the National Sex Offender Registry.

CBC reporter Dan Zakreskiwill be tweeting live from court. On mobile? Click here.