ManitobaWinnipeg 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.28-year-old registered sex offender charged with assault, forcible confinement in Darwin School incidentCBC News · Posted: Nov 28, 2025 2:02 PM EST | Last Updated: November 29Listen to this articleEstimated 4 minutesThe audio version of this article is generated by text-to-speech, a technology based on artificial intelligence.Darwin School principal Erin Enns said in a Thursday memo sent to parents the school was placed in a hold and secure situation on Thursday afternoon. (Google Street View)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.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.”He was a complete stranger,” she said.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.The school was placed in a hold and secure situation, meaning outside doors are locked.Police say they believe the man hid in a washroom stall after entering the school. When a student came out of another stall, the man grabbed the child.The student fought back and broke free from the man, then ran to tell a teacher what had happened.The child did not need medical treatment, said McKinnon, who would not provide details about the student, including their age or gender.Guilty plea to sexual interferenceThe 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.Mall security helped police find the man in the parking lot, where he was taken into custody.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.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.George’s criminal record stretches back to 2015 and includes convictions for breaking and entering, theft, forcible entry, mischief and weapons-related offences.Winnipeg police Const. Dani McKinnon says the ‘light at the end of the tunnel’ is that the child was not physically harmed. (CBC)The prohibition order was meant to prevent George from having contact with children or being in spaces where they would typically be, McKinnon said.She also would not comment on a motive or how the man got into the school.”At the end of the day, this is a very disturbing incident,” she said. “The light at the end of the tunnel is, nothing happened to this child physically in terms of harm … and what a brave student.”‘It’s shaken all of us’ The incident is “deeply distressing” and has “shaken all of us,” Louis Riel School Division superintendent Christian Michalik in an interview with CBC Friday afternoon. He added the child “showed incredible courage,” but said he also would not provide any further details about the student.Michalik said the division will conduct a review of the incident.”Obviously this person slipped in despite all our efforts to be vigilant about avoiding this ever happening,” he said. The school has security cameras, and many doors in schools are locked all day, said Michalik.”Schools are busy places,” he said. “We are reviewing what we know, and we are actively going to put into place measures to ensure a greater vigilance going forward at Darwin School, of course, but we’re thinking about all 41 schools [in the division].”In the memo sent out Thursday, Darwin principal Enns also said an in-school team of administrators, student services teachers and divisional clinical services staff are available to provide support to students and staff as needed. Police say their investigation is continuing, and ask anyone who wants to speak with an investigator to contact the child abuse unit at 204-986-3296, or submit an anonymous tip to Crime Stoppers at 204-786-8477 (TIPS) or online. They also said they encourage parents and caregivers to speak to their children about safety “and the power of ‘seeing something, saying something.'””If something looks wrong, feels wrong — fight your way out of it [and] talk to a safe adult,” said McKinnon.WATCH | Student grabbed in St. Vital school washroom by sex offender, say police:Student grabbed in St. Vital school washroom by sex offender, say policeWinnipeg police say a child was grabbed by a stranger in the bathroom of Darwin School on Thursday, leading to charges of assault and forcible confinement against a 28-year-old man who is a registered sex offender.
Student grabbed in St. Vital elementary school bathroom by sex offender: Winnipeg police
