(EDITOR’S NOTE: Some readers may find parts of this story disturbing.)
Jared John Charles will soon learn his fate.
The 20-year-old man previously pleaded guilty to kidnapping and sexual assault of an eight-year-old girl.
The incident was the subject of a Prince Albert Amber Alert last summer.
Noting the horrendous nature of the crimes, the Crown is seeking nine years in a federal penitentiary and permanent status in the sexual offender registry.
Crown prosecutor Cameron Scott told court how Charles abducted the girl from a local playground on July 4, 2017 and took her to an abandoned house outside Prince Albert where she was sexually assaulted for three hours.
Charles later abandoned the girl in a remote wooded area where she had to walk more than seven kilometres to the nearest farmhouse where she was able to get help.
Citing factors outlined in a Gladue report on the accused, defence is seeking a shorter term of incarceration of five years.
Defence lawyer Greg Chovin told court how Charles had been in and out of foster care since the age of two, his mother was killed in an alcohol-related motor vehicle accident when he was five and one of his sisters committed suicide.
Charles was also diagnosed with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder at a young age, has impulse control and the emotional maturity of a much younger person.
Judge Hugh Harradence is set to make his decision on Aug. 1.
Regardless of the judge’s decision, Charles will be credited for one-and-a-half years of time already served in custody.
Court saw video footage on Wednesday of Charles dressed in a red shirt and jeans physically picking up a young girl in a school playground and placing her in a nearby black vehicle before driving away in the mid-afternoon of July 4, 2017.
The girl was in the care of her grandmother at the time who had momentarily stepped away to get a drink of water.
After sexually assaulting the girl in the abandoned house, Charles left her on a wooded trail in the provincial forest outside of Prince Albert with a bag containing a few snacks, soft drinks and knife.
After a few hours, she made it to the farmhouse on Highway 302 where a woman recognized her from the Amber Alert.
A little after 11 p.m. that night, Charles was in police custody and shortly after admitting to the crimes.
Court also heard that in initial statements to police he showed little remorse for what he had confessed to saying he “hated his life” and “stopped caring two years ago.”
Charles told police he kidnapped the girl because she was “weak” and he didn’t care what happened to her.
He said when he abandoned her he didn’t “think she would make it back.”
When asked what he would say to the victim’s family, he replied “see you in hell.”
For most of the proceedings, Charles sat slouched in a chair usually staring down at his hands or off into space.
His appearance is now much different from 2017 police photos sporting short hair and glasses.
(PHOTO: Jared John Charles, courtesy of Prince Albert Police Service.)