By Tyler Marr

Charges against P.A. abduction suspect upgraded

Jul 14, 2017 | 2:00 PM

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.

He was silent as his case was adjourned until July 28 to allow for additional election on the new information that has came forward. The allegations against Charles have not been proven before the courts.

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This is not the first time Charles has been accused of abducting children.

In September of 2016, Charles was criminally charged after triggering an Amber Alert in La Ronge. Charles, then 18, was accused of taking two young boys from the La Ronge area to his grandmother’s home in St. Louis, Sask. The abduction charges were later dropped because the Crown did not feel they had sufficient evidence to proceed.

In December of last year, Charles was sentenced for a sexual assault and breaching his probation order by being alone with children under age 16. He was given a sentence of three and a half months of time served and was required to register as a sex offender. Included in the previous sentence was a three-year probation order forbidding Charles from having any unsupervised contact with children or attending parks or pools without a responsible adult who is aware of his criminal history.

EDITOR’S NOTE: As this matter is now before the courts, commenting is closed.

tyler.marr@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @JournoMarr