The man at the centre of a child abduction case appeared in provincial court in St. John’s on Friday even though technically he didn’t have to.

Seventy-Two-year-old Will Crockwell, who lives in New Brunswick, is charged with child luring and child abduction. He’s accused of coaching a 14-year-old girl to leave St. John’s, meet up and return to that province with him.

It’s believed Crockwell took the ferry to Newfoundland for that purpose in early June, but was arrested in Badger before the rendezvous with the girl could occur.

Crockwell was released on bail, with conditions that require him to show up and sign in regularly at the local RCMP detachment, about 60 kilometres from his home in New Brunswick.

His lawyer, Bob Buckingham, raised a concern about that distance during the bail hearing, but the condition remains in place, even though Crockwell says there’s often no one at the detachment when he gets there.

Buckingham says the fact Crockwell instead showed up in person, in St. John’s, for his court date demonstrates his commitment to the release conditions.

Meanwhile, two others accused of helping bring the girl to Crockwell—63-year-old Erin Bast and 69-year-old Fred Boone, both of Milltown—remain free on bail as they await word on a lawyer from Legal Aid.

They were found with the girl at a cabin along the Bay d’Espoir Highway hours after police issued an Amber Alert around her disappearance.

VOCM News has learned that the girl and Crockwell were previously known to each other but details regarding their relationship have yet to be released publicly.

All three accused are due back in provincial court on August 25.