The man arrested in connection with the Amber Alert situation Sept. 16 appeared in court Monday.
Johnathan Ryann Gunville, 19, appeared in North Battleford Provincial Court before Judge Bruce Bauer. As expected he was remanded to appear the next day, Sept. 25, for a bail hearing.
The full extent of the charges Gunville faces also became known Monday. At the moment Gunville faces a total of 20 counts, mainly stemming from the Sept. 16 incident in which a vehicle was taken from a North Battleford strip mall.
They include counts of abduction of a person under 14, kidnapping, unlawful abandonment of a child, stealing a motor vehicle and operating a motor vehicle in a manner dangerous to the public. He is also charged with operating a motor vehicle while disqualified.
Gunville is also charged with two counts of failure to comply with probation orders from earlier this year. He also faces several counts dated Sept. 20 which include: operating a motor vehicle on Miller Road in a manner dangerous to the public, a second count of operating a motor vehicle on 102nd Street in a manner dangerous to the public, possession of property exceeding $5,000 knowing it was obtained by an offence punishable by indictment, failure to stop for police, two counts of operating a motor vehicle while disqualified, three counts of breach of a Jan. 19 probation order and three counts of breach of an Aug. 22 probation order.
Prosecutor Chris Browne appeared for the Crown. The Crown opposes Gunville’s release and is proceeding by indictment on all but one count. The Crown is reserving election on the Sept. 16 count of operating a motor vehicle while disqualified.
Gunville was represented in court by legal aid defence lawyer Bill Archer. In speaking to reporters outside the courtroom Archer said he expected the number of charges against Gunville would be “weeded down considerably. I don’t know what the strength of the evidence is at this point.”
He indicated one issue was determining whether Gunville was in fact the individual responsible for the theft of the vehicle.
“If it was him, he stole a car, not the kid. So that is what it comes down to. It’s gotten a lot of attention just because of the circumstances,” said Archer.
Gunville’s mother, Tammy Lavallee, was in court and spoke to reporters following the court appearance. She confirmed that Gunville had previously been staying at a group home and was also at the Lighthouse for a time, and had a Grade 10 education.
When pressed by reporters, Lavallee couldn’t confirm whether her son had realized his actions. “Maybe he does but he doesn’t want to admit to it,” said Lavallee.
