PRINCE ALBERT, Sask. — The mother of a girl allegedly abducted from a Saskatchewan playground says what happened to her daughter shows it can happen to anyone.
The woman says she is tired of reading that the eight-year-old girl was unsupervised when she disappeared from a playground in Prince Albert, Sask., Tuesday.
“We never left her alone. My daughter was with her grandmother. She left just for five minutes to grab a bottle of water,” the girl’s mother wrote on her Facebook page.
“Everyone who knows our family can confirm that we always care and try protect our daughter more than enough! Also she is very smart and well educated girl. She knew about kidnapping. Our example just shows it can happen to everyone!”
An Amber Alert was issued Tuesday for the girl after she disappeared. At the time, police said the girl was playing by herself when a man entered the park.
He was seen hanging around for about 15 minutes, until the child left and he followed. Police said he was seen talking to the girl against a school wall, then grabbed her and put her into the back seat of his car. He then climbed into the front and drove away.
The girl was found several hours later.
Jared John Charles, 19, appeared in Prince Albert provincial court Thursday to face numerous charges including kidnapping, forcible confinement, sexual assault and abandoning a child.
Charles didn’t speak as his case was adjourned to give him time to find a lawyer. He is scheduled to appear in court again Friday via video link.
Court documents show Charles, who is also identified as Jarrod Charles, was charged with abducting two boys early last fall in La Ronge, Sask. However, the charges were later stayed.
Charles is currently on probation after pleading guilty to sexual interference. In December 2016, he was sentenced to three and a half months time served and three years probation for a case involving a nine-year-old girl.
He was ordered to get sexual offender counselling, not to be alone with children under the age of 16, not to be in parks or pools unless he’s with an adult who is aware of his conviction and not to use social media to communicate with anyone under the age of 16.
He was also told to register with the National Sexual Offender Registry.
(The Canadian Press, CKBI)
The Canadian Press