The sentencing date was set Thursday for three would-be child abductors who triggered a rare amber alert in the province last summer.

The 14-year-old girl wasn’t so much abducted as she was instructed by 73-year-old Wil Crockwell.

The New Brunswick man is the ex-boyfriend of the girl’s mother, who reportedly warned police about him in the past.

And her fears were founded.

Crockwell has pleaded guilty in connection with last year’s scheme to meet the girl in central Newfoundland and return to New Brunswick with her.

He was aided by 63-year-old Erin Bast and 69-year-old Cyril Boone, both known to Crockwell and recruited to drive the girl from the Avalon Mall in St. John’s to a cabin on the Bay d’Espoir Highway.

That’s where they were arrested, and the girl found safe, with Crockwell intercepted not far away, in Badger, on June 8th of last year.

Crockwell and Bast will be sentenced for child abduction and conspiracy to commit the offence, while Crockwell faces an additional charge of child luring; “using telecommunication to communicate with a person who is, or who he believes was under the age of 16 for the purpose of facilitating the commission of an offence …”

And in a bit of a twist, court heard that the charges against Boone could be dismissed.

Details of that development are expected when all three accused, who remain free on conditions, return for sentencing in February.