Girl was not harmed: Saskatchewan man gets jail time for Amber Alert joy ride

NORTH BATTLEFORD, Sask. — A Saskatchewan man who triggered an Amber Alert when he stole a running SUV with a disabled girl in the back seat has been sentenced to 31 months in jail.

Johnathan Gunville had pleaded guilty to several charges, including theft of a vehicle and abandoning a child.

With credit for time served, Gunville still has two years less a day remaining in his sentence.

The six-year-old girl had been left in the back of her parents’ Mercedes when Gunville stole it last September from outside a North Battleford, Sask., strip mall.

The girl, who is autistic, epileptic and non-verbal, was found unharmed 14 hours later, still in the SUV, a few kilometres away.

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Court heard that Gunville, who was 19 at the time, has an intellectual disability and didn’t know the girl was in the vehicle when he took it for a joy ride.

Provincial court Judge Bruce Bauer recommended that Gunville complete addictions programming, see a psychiatrist and serve time at the Saskatchewan Hospital North Battleford.

Gunville also received three years of probation once he is released and faces a five-year driving ban.

Outside court, defence lawyer Bill Archer said it was a sad case.

“There were two kids inside the car that day,” he said Wednesday. “He is a six- or eight-year-old trapped in a 20-year-old body.”

The Crown, citing public safety concerns, recommended that Gunville serve three years at a federal penitentiary. 

(CJNB)

The Canadian Press

Note to readers: This is a corrected story. A previous version said Gunville was sentenced to two years less a day.