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Winnipeg police say a child was grabbed by a stranger in a St. Vital elementary school bathroom Thursday, leading to charges of assault and forcible confinement against a 28-year-old man who is a registered sex offender.<\/p>\n
Officers were called to the school around 1:30 p.m. with a report of an adult stranger who had entered the school and confronted a child, Const. Dani McKinnon said at a Friday news conference.<\/p>\n
“He was a complete stranger,” she said.<\/p>\n
McKinnon declined to name the school, but a Thursday memo sent to parents by Darwin School principal Erin Enns identified that kindergarten to Grade 8 school, just west of St. Vital Centre and part of the Louis Riel School Division, as the one where the incident happened.<\/p>\n
The school was placed in a hold and secure situation, meaning\u00a0outside doors are locked and watched. <\/p>\n
Police say they believe the man hid in a washroom stall in the school. When a student came out of another stall, the man grabbed hold of the child.<\/p>\n
The student fought back and broke free from the man, then ran to tell a teacher what had happened.<\/p>\n
The child did not need medical treatment, McKinnon said.<\/p>\n
‘Very disturbing’<\/p>\n
The man fled before police arrived, but an “eagle-eyed” witness in a vehicle followed him to a nearby mall, McKinnon said. Police identified it as a mall in the 1200 block of St. Mary’s Road, which is where St. Vital Centre is located.<\/p>\n
Mall security helped police find the man in the parking lot, where he was taken into custody.<\/p>\n
Scott William George, 28, has been charged with assault, forcible confinement and two counts of failing to comply with a prohibition involving children. He was detained in custody.<\/p>\n
George has been a registered sex offender since he pleaded guilty to sexual interference in 2023, court records show. He was sentenced to two years for the July 2022 crime that involved sexually touching a person under 16 years old.<\/p>\n
George’s criminal record stretches back to 2015 and includes convictions for breaking and entering and theft, forcible entry, mischief and weapons-related offences.<\/p>\n
The prohibition order was meant to prevent George from having contact with children or being in spaces where they would typically be, McKinnon said.<\/p>\n
She also would not comment on a motive or how the man got into the school.<\/p>\n
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Winnipeg police Const. Dani McKinnon says the ‘light at the end of the tunnel’ is that the child was not physically harmed. (CBC)<\/p>\n
“At the end of the day, this is a very disturbing incident,” she said. <\/p>\n
“The light at the end of the tunnel is, nothing happened to this child physically in terms of harm \u2026 and what a brave student.”<\/p>\n
McKinnon would not provide details about the student, including their age or gender.<\/p>\n