Saskatchewan RCMP have cancelled a province-wide Amber Alert for an eight-year-old girl, and a man who allegedly abducted the girl is in custody.
The RCMP had issued an alert Tuesday after a girl had gone missing in Prince Albert, Sask.
She has since been found safe.
READ MORE: Amber Alert: Man charged with abducting 2 boys in Saskatchewan
Jarrod John Charles, a 19-year-old St. Louis resident, was taken into custody in Prince Albert around 11:15 p.m. last night, a few hours after police issued an Amber Alert for the child.
Alanna Adamko, a Prince Albert police spokeswoman, said Charles was arrested without incident and that an investigation into the alleged abduction continues, although no charges have been laid yet.
Adamko said the girl was assessed at hospital before she was returned to her parents, but there’s no immediate word on whether she was injured.
The parents of the eight-year-old girl say their daughter is doing well.
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Her father said on social media police found her “safe and unhurt.”
“I really want to say thank you to everyone who has offered help, prayers and support,” the girl’s mother wrote on Facebook. “Our sweetheart … is good.”
The little girl was playing by herself Tuesday afternoon in a playground in the Crescent Acres neighbourhood of Prince Albert when a man entered the park.
He was seen hanging around for about 15 minutes, until the little girl left and he followed.
Police said he was observed talking to the girl against the school wall, then grabbed her and put her into the back seat of his car.
He then climbed into the front and drove away.
When the girl’s family went to the park and found she was missing, they called police at about 3:30 p.m. CT. Police issued a news release asking for the public’s assistance in finding her a short time later, and the Amber Alert was issued at 7:53 p.m.
Adamko would not say whether any information from the public helped lead to the youngster’s recovery and the arrest.
“I would say we were taken aback by the outpouring of public support. We had hundreds of thousands of hits on social media and hundreds of calls and messages from people wanting to provide assistance in any way possible. It was much appreciated.”
This is the second time in less than a year Charles has been involved in an Amber Alert in the province.
On Sept. 29, 2016, an Amber Alert was issued after two young boys were abducted in La Ronge, Sask. They were found a short time later at a home in St. Louis, Sask.
Charles was charged with two counts of abducting a person under the age of 14 but those charges were later dropped.
Crown prosecutor Luke Coupal said there was no evidence that Charles intended to take the children from their parents.
“That’s not what happened here,” Coupal said Wednesday.
“Jarrod was friends with the boys. They regularly hung out and one of the boys contacted his parents and explained that he would like to continue hanging out with Jarrod and the parent said ‘No, come home’ and the child refused.”
“They were playing video games, eating pop and chips, so the boys were perfectly fine and were taken back to their parents,” Coupal said.
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.
“You might think that three-and-a-half months seems a little odd,” Coupal said.
“We need to bear in mind that sexual interference spans a spectrum of everything from possibly a kiss that has a sexual nature right up to violent sexual assaults, and the judge has to determine where on that spectrum is the appropriate sentence based on the facts.”
Coupal could not provide any further details.
The teen 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.
With files from The Canadian Press
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