Victoria man charged with abducting his daughter appears in court
Credit to Author: Lora Grindlay| Date: Wed, 21 Aug 2019 23:06:52 +0000
VICTORIA — A man charged with abducting his four-year-old autistic child and leaving her in Indonesia was arrested early Tuesday.
Brent Erskine appeared in provincial court in Victoria Tuesday afternoon and was released on $5,000 bail with conditions not to contact the child’s mother, Agustina Wulandari, or his daughter Samantha.
Evidence heard at the bail hearing cannot be reported because it is under a publication ban.
Two weeks ago, Victoria police held a news conference urging Erskine to turn himself in at a Canadian embassy.
Police said that under a vacation agreement with Wulandari, who is a landed immigrant from Indonesia, Erskine was supposed to take Samantha to Vancouver for a week on June 30. Instead, they travelled to Jakarta, Indonesia.
Through the efforts of family members and police, the child was eventually dropped off with her maternal grandparents in Jakarta.
Erskine is believed to have travelled to Singapore to renew a visa, police said.
Police became involved when Samantha wasn’t dropped off as planned and her mother contacted them. Victoria police have been in contact with the RCMP and Global Affairs Canada to try to bring the child back home.
A spokesperson for Global Affairs Canada said in a statement the agency is aware of an international child-abduction case in Indonesia.
“Canadian consular officials are in contact with the child’s family in Canada and are providing consular assistance. Consular officials in Jakarta, Indonesia, are in contact with local authorities to gather additional information,” the statement said.
Wulandari told reporters she became concerned when her ex’s behaviour around communicating with her daughter began to change.
On July 7, she contacted him to see if they were back in Victoria, but he said they were not.
She reported her daughter as missing on July 8 after receiving an email from Erskine saying he and Samantha were in Jakarta.
Crown counsel approved charges of abduction and failing to obey a court order on July 24.
Erskine is scheduled to appear in court on Sept. 4.
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