Charges against P.A. abduction suspect upgraded
Prosecutors have upgraded charges against the man accused of kidnapping a girl from a Prince Albert playground earlier this month from sexual assault to aggravated sexual assault.
Jarrod John Charles, 19, made his third appearance via video in Prince Albert Provincial Court Friday morning. He was arrested on July 4 after allegedly abducting an eight-year-old girl from a playground near Ecole Vickers Public School at roughly 3:30 p.m. that afternoon. A few hours after the Amber Alert was triggered, police announced the girl was located after she had walked onto a rural acreage just outside of the city where he had allegedly abandoned the girl. He was arrested without incident a few hours later at a business in the West Hill area.
The young victim’s identity, although shared widely across the province during the hunt for her abductor, can no longer be published because she is both a minor and the victim of an alleged sexual crime. This morning, Charles made a brief appearance over a video link from the Prince Albert Correctional Centre. His hair was shaggy and unkept and wore a greyish t-shirt and pants.
The court docket shows Charles continues to face numerous criminal charges including kidnapping, forcible confinement, sexual interference, invitation to sexual touching, abandoning a child and breaching probation alongside the upgraded sexual assault charge and the addition of a charge for a break and enter while committing an offence.