ManitobaManitoba Premier Wab Kinew is calling on officials to review public notice guidelines, after a man with a past conviction for sexual interference allegedly entered a Winnipeg school and grabbed a student last week.Call comes days after convicted sex offender accused of grabbing student in K-8 school bathroomBryce Hoye · CBC News · Posted: Dec 02, 2025 6:29 PM EST | Last Updated: 5 hours agoListen to this articleEstimated 4 minutesThe audio version of this article is generated by text-to-speech, a technology based on artificial intelligence.Premier Wab Kinew, shown in an October file photo, sent a letter to the Community Notification Advisory Committee this week, urging it to revisit its notification criteria after a man convicted of a past sexual assault allegedly grabbed a student in the bathroom of a Winnipeg K-8 school. (Bryce Hoye/CBC)Manitoba’s premier is calling for a review of public notice guidelines after a 28-year-old man with a past conviction for sexual interference allegedly entered a school and grabbed a student last week.Wab Kinew wrote a letter to the Community Notification Advisory Committee on Tuesday about the incident, urging it “to thoroughly review the criteria and guidelines used in issuing public notifications of high-risk sex offenders to ensure the public is adequately protected.”That committee — which is appointed by the justice minister and includes representatives from police forces along with the province’s corrections, justice and health departments — reviews cases of sex offenders referred to it by police agencies and makes recommendations on whether some form of community notification is warranted with respect to the offender.”When a convicted sex offender breaches their bail conditions, the whole context of the bail violation should be taken into account by the CNAC and the decision to notify the public must prioritize public safety,” reads a portion of Kinew’s letter to the committee, dated Dec. 2.The news comes one day after Kinew and Education Minister Tracy Schmidt ordered safety reviews for all schools in the province, days after Scott William George, 28, allegedly entered Darwin School, hid in a bathroom and grabbed a student. The student managed to break free uninjured, police previously said.George was arrested at a nearby mall and charged with assault and forcible confinement. Court documents indicate he has been registered as a sex offender since 2023, when he pleaded guilty to sexual interference. That crime involved him “randomly” groping a six-year-old girl in front of her parents at a theatre, according to court recordings reviewed by CBC News.He was sentenced to two years. As a result of that conviction, he was prohibited from having contact with children or attending areas they’d often be.George violated those conditions twice earlier this year, including once by entering Dakota Collegiate high school, according to court recordings. ‘Your right to know’: KinewOn Monday, Schmidt directed all school divisions to produce an emergency response plan for review of all schools after the incident at Darwin School.Kinew’s letter raises questions as to why George was not listed on the provincial government website for sex offender notifications after his breach at Dakota Collegiate earlier this year.”If someone on the sex offender registry violates bail at a school, it seems in situations like these that [the] public should be notified,” reads some of that letter. Kinew urged the advisory committee to work with members of the Manitoba Integrated High Risk Sex Offender Unit, justice and health officials to review criteria for notifying the public.Kinew wrote the letter to the committee so that “we can tighten things up and ensure that in the future … should there ever be a situation where somebody on the sex offender registry breaches their bail at a school in Manitoba, that the public will be notified,” he said at the legislature Tuesday. “It is your right to know.”Progressive Conservative Leader Obby Khan, seen in an October file photo, said the province should be boosting support for school resource officers and focus on ‘keeping repeat violent offenders in jail.’ (Bryce Hoye/CBC)Asked whether the advisory committee bears any responsibility in this case, Official Opposition Leader Obby Khan instead pointed the finger at Justice Minister Matt Wiebe.”It is the minister of justice who is responsible for a) not having him on the sex offender list and b) releasing him on bail and not keeping him in jail,” said Khan.He said the province should focus on boosting support for school resource officers and “keeping repeat violent offenders in jail.”CBC News reached out to the Community Notification Advisory Committee for comment about Kinew’s letter but had not received a response prior to publication.ABOUT THE AUTHORBryce Hoye is a multi-platform journalist with a background in wildlife biology. He has worked for CBC Manitoba for over a decade with stints producing at CBC’s Quirks & Quarks and Front Burner. He was a 2024-25 Knight Science Journalism Fellow at MIT. He is also Prairie rep for outCBC. He has won a national Radio Television Digital News Association award for a 2017 feature on the history of the fur trade, and a 2023 Prairie region award for an audio documentary about a Chinese-Canadian father passing down his love for hockey to the next generation of Asian Canadians.Selected storiesEmail: bryce.hoye@cbc.caFacebookMore by Bryce HoyeWith files from Ian Froese and Özten Shebahkeget
Premier urges review of public notification system for high-risk sex offenders after Winnipeg student grabbed
