A man convicted earlier this year in a high-profile child abduction case is now facing trial on child pornography charges involving the same girl.
The newer charges were laid at the same time the abduction case was making its way through the courts.
Erin Bast and Will Crockwell in provincial court. (VOCM News/File)
Seventy-four-year-old Will Crockwell and a female accomplice were each sentenced to a year of house arrest for trying to help the teenage girl, who was in the province’s care, leave Newfoundland for New Brunswick.
It triggered a rare Amber Alert that led to their arrests, and the safe return of the girl to St. John’s.
Crockwell was allowed to return to his home in New Brunswick as the case moved along in this province, with strict conditions on use of computers and online activity.
But it’s alleged at some point he ran afoul of the law again; specifically, making, accessing and possessing child pornography involving the same girl.
The charges had been set aside until the abduction case was concluded, but this morning there was a major step: not guilty pleas were entered, and there will be a trial by judge alone in Supreme Court.
Dates for that trial will be set when Crockwell is formally arraigned in early December.
