A British Columbia judge has ordered alleged child abductor Randall Hopley to undergo a psychiatric evaluation to determine if he is fit to stand trial.

The announcement was made during Hopley's first court appearance on Wednesday, nearly 24 hours he was arrested near an Alberta Bible camp.

CTV's Janet Dirks said Hopley was escorted into a Cranbrook, B.C. courthouse by police officers at about 8:30 a.m. local time Wednesday.

During his court appearance, Hopley's lawyer requested a psychiatric evaluation for his client and asked that he appear at his next court date via video conference.

Both requests were granted, Dirks said.

The 46-year-old faces charges of kidnapping, abduction of a child under 14, and break and enter. He has also been charged with two counts of breach of probation.

Outside the court, Hopley's lawyer reminded the public that his client deserves a fair trial and shouldn't be convicted in the court of public opinion.

"Mr. Hopley has a story to tell and eventually, not yet, his story will come out," William Thorne told reporters.

Thorne noted that Hopley was "very sad and sorry for being in the situation that he's in" and speculated that his client may have been on suicide watch after his dramatic arrest.

"It's a very unusual circumstance. His side of it, I expect, will also be very unusual," he said.

Thorne, who has represented Hopley once before, said his client has various health issues but it will be up to doctors to determine if he has mental health problems.

Police had been seeking Hopley for days before he was apprehended on Tuesday morning in the Crowsnest Lake area, just across the provincial border from British Columbia.

Dirks said Hopley's capture came quickly once police realized they had found their fugitive.

"It was quite a dramatic takedown," Dirks said.

She said police dogs were used to track Hopley to an abandoned cabin near the camp, a short drive from Sparwood, where the boy went missing.

"They knocked on the door, police say he fled," Dirks said. "They gave chase and they took him in. They took him down and arrested him."

Three-year-old Sparwood, B.C. toddler Kienan Hebert went missing from his family home some time after his parents tucked him into bed on Sept. 6.

He was reported missing the next morning, triggering a search and investigation that quickly led to the identification of Hopley as a suspect.

In the days that followed the disappearance, Kienan's parents and police made public appeals for his safe return. Then, under mysterious circumstances, he was returned to his home unharmed early Sunday morning.

Police told a press conference on Tuesday that they had not struck a deal for Kienan's safe return.

Hopley was scheduled to appear in an Alberta courtroom on Sept. 19 for a preliminary hearing on 12 unrelated charges dating back to May 2010 in Crowsnest Pass. The charges include break and enter and possession of stolen property.

A court official in Lethbridge said that matter has been put off until Sept. 27.

His next appearance related to the kidnapping and abduction charges is slated for Nov. 9.

With files from The Canadian Press and CTV Calgary's Elissa Carpenter